Faking Reality!
by Platonic1
Summary: Little misunderstanding was amplified on a large scale, and now Aerith and Leon are forced to live like a married couple. Of course they don’t want to, but situation demands them to be. But, when Cloud returns and finds out, things get messy. LxAxC
1. Episode 1 And that's how it Begin

The infamous disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy or Microsoft or Intel or Dell or... you get the idea right?

* * *

**Summary:** Little misunderstanding was amplified on a large scale and now Aerith and Leon are forced to live like a married couple, of course they don't want to but Yuffie, Cid, Eiko, Sora, Mickey and people of Travers Town are not helping. Neither Leon nor Aerith could fake their feelings anymore. Their story was set for an fairy tale ending, but when Cloud returned...everything changed...  
Leon x Aerith x Cloud

* * *

**! And that's how it begin !  
…**

"Butttt…butttt Mr. Leonhart I can't do that...that's against the school's policy" he stuttered  
"I don't care" Leon sneered.  
Chancellor Sheppard who was two feet off the ground said in a muffled voice "I am sorry but I can't do that."  
A hand was placed on Leon's shoulder and it was followed by a soft voice.  
"Calm down Leon, let go of him" Aerith said hoping that her words would sink in.  
Leon tosses the chancellor casually back in his chair.

Sheppard looked around and sighed in relief, '_It's good to be back on the ground_'  
"I am really sorry about that Chancellor Sheppard" Aerith said in an apologizing and soft tone.  
Sheppard took a deep breath, '_It feels good to be able to breath freely again_'  
Aerith elbowed Leon.  
"Ya, I am sorry too…I guess" uttered Leon not meaning a word he said.  
"It's okay, I understand" said the chancellor, lying just like Leon.  
Leon snapped "No you don't"  
Sheppard was scared…again…  
Leon's fingers curled together to form a fist once again.  
Aerith saw that and quickly placed her hand on his fist.  
Leon winced at the touch but decided to ignore it since he had more serious matter to take care of…and he means serious.

"Chancellor Sheppard, I understand that school has its own rules and everyone must abide by it but she is a very special child and her schooling is very important" Aerith said after few quite and (thankfully) peaceful minutes.  
"But Ms. Aerith, we can't accept her without her mother's information" the chancellor replied with a straight face.  
Aerith sighed once again  
"I have already filled up all the paper work and you have my signature on it so why do you need the information about her mother?" Leon argued  
"Mr. Leon, we don't allow single patenting and since you are not a single parent we need information about you AND your wife" he stated matter-of-factly.  
"I have my own reasons for not revealing my wife's identity" Leon snapped back.  
As soon as that sentence came out of Leon's mouth his mind which was already very active became very hyper active, '_That's sounds strange. 'My' and 'Wife' two very dangerous words in a same sentence! You sure you are talking about yourself Leon?'_  
'_Shut up!_' Leon just hopped that his annoying conscious would actually shut up for once.  
Oh Leon just loves yelling at his annoying consciousness.

Chancellor Sheppard pushed the papers towards Leon and said "Sorry but we can't admit her in our school without her mother's information."  
Leon exhaled a loud sigh and said in a low almost pleading voice "Please help me this time, please. I'll be in your eternal debt."  
Aerith looked at him in a shock, '_hmm that's strange, I have never seen Leon sounding so, so…week. He always has this lion like aura around him and this soft behavior doesn't suit him at all. For once he is not acting like Leon, I don't know if I should be happy about it or not._'  
Sheppard thinks for a while and then replies "I am sorry Mr. Leon, but rules are rules. I can't break them, not even for you."  
Leon slammed his feast on the table as anger was evident in all of his features "Dam you…"

As soon as Sheppard saw Leon's reaction he curled up a bit in his chair and covered up his face with his hands in protecting manner.  
'_I hate to do this but if everything fails to convince someone, intimidation always works' _Leon thought  
So Leon stood up slowly from his seat.  
Aerith was still holding his hand but Leon simply twitched his wrist and Aerith immediately lost her grip.  
'_No, no, no please don't do it Leon…' _Aerith pleaded in her mind.  
Leon slowly walked over to Chancellor Sheppard's chair.  
'_No matter what happens make sure she that gets accepted in the school…_' Aerith reminded herself as the words from King Mickey's letter came afloat among the jumble of thoughts going through her head.  
'_King Mickey left her responsibility on us, so we can't let him down_' Aerith thought determinedly.

Leon was doing his 'stuff' while Aerith started think of a way to get out of this mess, '_What else can we do now? Initially we thought that they would simple admit her in school on our request since we have done so much for this town. But that didn't work out since this school only accepts kids whose parents are citizen of Traverse Town. So to just admit her from the back door would be illegal. So we had to use our back up plan in which Leon would adopt her and everything should have worked out but thanks to their stupid rules all our hopes and plans went down in drain._'  
'_Arrrgggg…now I am mad. It took us one whole week to convince Leon to adopt her in worst case scenario and NOW they tell us that single parenting is now allowed! This is not fair!_' she thought getting really frustrated.

'_Well the good thing is that, the moment they told us the rules about adopting, we knew that would plan was flawed. But thanks to Leon's quick presence of mind he quickly covered it up by saying that he was not single but he just didn't wanted to reveal the identity of his wife for personal reasons. So now we have at least one option, not a very promising one but an option regardless_' she thought further.  
'_We tortured poor guy for one week and then finally he was convinced to have an adopted daughter. But now we have to find him a fictional wife too! This is just great! (Being sarcastic of course)_' she thought getting more and more annoyed by this situation.  
'_I don't know how long it would take us to convince him to have a fake wife, just for the shake of an admission! I don't think I would be able to convince him in my lifetime'_ she though feeling very helpless.  
'_We can't let King Mickey down. Think Aerith, think…_' her responsibility forced herself to think deeper.

Aerith was busy thinking while Leon was staring down at cowering chancellor of this mini school.  
"I hate to say this but we put our lives on the line everyday to ensure your safety, to ensure this town's safety and we expect nothing in return, this is just the one time when I need your help. I know you have rules, but you also have good enough cause to bend the rules, I am sure that the committee would understand. Don't just blindly follow the book, use your head, and be practical. Please…it's about little girl's future" Leon started with a strong and venomous voice but it was softer by the end of his sentence.  
(A light bulb could almost be seen turning on, on Aerith head)  
'_Use your head and be practical…that's it!_' a smile instantly graced her features as she had discovered the solution to their problem.  
It finally clicked Aerith and she immediately grabbed the papers which where lying on the table in front of her.

"I…I…can't do that…" Sheppard stuttered scared to death.  
Leon was now totally pissed; he grabbed him from the collar and lifted him up with just one hand.  
Leon said in a menacing voice "Why don't you do me a favor, if a heartless attacks you next time, just remind me not to save your worthless ass."  
Sheppard said in a very low muffled voice, "no no no wait, may be we can work it out somehow…"  
"Now we are talking…" Leon said with a microscopic smile on his lips.  
This conversation was so low that Aerith, who was just few feet away from them wasn't able to hear anything.

Aerith stood up from her seat holding all the papers in one hand.  
She walked towards Leon and stood right behind him and placed her free hand on his shoulder to get his attention.  
She said in her soft voice, "It okay Leon, let him go."  
Leon just turned his head and looked at her.  
Aerith looked into his eyes and said in a whispering manner, "Everything has been taken care of."  
"What?" was the obvious question to ask in this situation,  
Aerith cleared her throat and said the most unpredictable thing every, "Its okay honey" emphasizing the word 'honey'.  
Both Leon and Sheppard said in unison "HONEY!"

Immediately after that Leon dropped Sheppard to the ground almost absentmindedly and put his hand on his forehead in his trademark style.  
Leon's mind immediately started screaming, "_Something is very wrong Leon!_'  
"You wanted to know who is the mother of her, right? Here…" she said handing the papers to chancellor.  
"Here is everything you need to know" she said firmly.  
After giving the papers Aerith walked back to her seat and Leon immediately followed her.

They both took the seat at the same time.  
Chancellor Sheppard was going though all the papers but when he saw the mother's name his eyes almost popped out of its sockets.  
To say that Sheppard had a surprised look on his face would be an understatement of the year.  
He just looked at Aerith and then he looked back at Leon.  
He repeated this non stop without even blinking once.  
(Like tennis match audience)

'_Why is he watching us like that? Some is very very wrong Leon_' he wondered as his mind started sending more and more warning signals to him.  
After about a minute or so Aerith coughed (fake) to bring Sheppard out of his trance.  
He immediately returned back to his paper work.  
Aerith just smiled since she knew the cause of his surprise.  
But Leon was clearly frowning as he was very confused.  
He quietly asked Aerith in an almost whispering manner "What did you do?"  
Aerith replied in an equally low voice, "Nothing out of ordinary, just got you a wife."

Leon jumped up from his seat and yelled at top of his voice "WHAT?"  
He looked at Aerith in absolute disbelief.  
Chancellor Sheppard found this behavior very odd because now Leon was the one who was staring at Aerith just like he had been few moments ago.  
Sheppard found Leon's conduct a bit suspicious so he decided to inquire "Anything wrong Mr. Leon?"  
'_Everything is wrong!_' his mind screamed back.  
Aerith looked at him pleadingly and shook her head slightly.  
She had her hands claps together in almost praying like style.  
She does that whenever she is nervous, it's as if she is asking for some extra strength from some deity.  
Leon saw her expression and made a very tough decision to play along with whatever Aerith had plotted  
"Water, yes water. I need some water" he said trying to cover it up.  
"'Water'? I though you said 'What'" inquired Sheppard.  
Aerith quickly supported Leon "No chancellor, he said water. I am sure of it"  
"hmm strange, anyway… here, take it…" he said trying to ignore the obvious mishap.  
Sheppard handed a one liter water bottle to Leon and he gulped it down in just one sip.  
Leon slumped back into his chair and was clutching his head with his both hands.

'_Well if I know Leon as good as I think I know him then I am in big trouble once we get out of this office. I won't be surprised to find my picture on the front page of tomorrow's news paper labeled as 'Our beloved Aerith will always be missed' or something like that. May be I can request him to give me some time to make my will and write a departing letter to my Cloud_' Aerith thought with a bit of frown on her face.

Sheppard looked up from his paper work and announced, "Okay I have reviewed all the papers and everything seems fine."  
"I still can't believe this is for real. It sound's so fictional, but hey…fairy tales can come true you know" he said with obvious excitement.  
'_What? Does that mean he bought it?_' Aerith wondered with a smile on her face.  
'_Fairy tale! Oh god I hate fairy tales_' Leon sighed.  
'_I wonder who she picked as my wife to make him think that MY so called life is like a fairy tale. What did she put? That I am married to some vampire lady? Or to a heartless? Or a zombie maybe? Who knows…_' Leon thought getting depressed at the speed of light.  
Leon looked at Aerith and mind came up with an obvious remark, '_Aerith you are so dead…'_

"So it's official?" she asked still a bit uncertain.  
"Absolutely, you can call her now" Sheppard replied firmly.  
"Thank you, thank you so much!" she said with palpable excitement.  
Aerith stood up from her seat and went outside to bring Leon's recently adopted daughter.  
Sheppard looked at Leon and said, "Now let's complete some formalities."  
Sheppard gave Leon a stack of a paper which he had to sign.  
Leon started signing them absentmindedly as his mind was pre-occupied by the though of his mysterious wife.  
Leon was never an anxious person but this anxiousness was killing him.  
The office's door opened and Aerith stepped in with Leon's daughter.

Aerith took a seat next to Leon and offer a seat to his daughter next to her.  
Leon looked at them and went back to his signing process.  
Sheppard pulled out a piece of paper and placed it in front of Aerith. "Ms. Aerith I need your information and your signature here."  
He pointed out the location with his finger and continued "and I need Mr. Leon's signature right below it and once you sign it, she will officially become a student of Traverse Town Academy."  
Aerith signed as instructed and passed the paper to Leon who had just finished signing a stack of paper.  
Leon looked and the last piece of paper and started reading it.

_Student's name: Eiko Leonhart  
Father's Name: Squall Leonhart  
Mother's Name: Aerith Leonhart  
Address:…_  
He ignored the rest.

Leon paused and looked back at the mother's name.  
The expression on Leon's face was priceless.  
Normally Leon is very good at hiding his emotions but this time it was different.  
His face was like an open book.  
Leon was holding the paper in his hand and he was just staring at it.  
Blink… … … … … blink blink… … … … blink … … … blink blink… … blink … blink  
Leon squinted his eyes and repeated the same process.  
After blinking few more times in pure disbelief he finally looked as Aerith.  
Aerith who was observing Leon so far, immediately looked down in a bit shame and embarrassment, when their eyes meet.  
Leon didn't say anything. What could he say.  
He just filled up rest of his part and handed the paper back to the chancellor.

"Excellent!" Sheppard exclaimed clasping his hands.  
Sheppard stood up and offered his hand and said "You guys are now officially a part of TT Academy (Traverse Town Academy), welcome"  
Leon just looked at his hand and nodded.  
Almost everyone in Traverse Town knew Leon and his unique anti-social habits so his gesture for not returning the handshake was not a surprise to Sheppard.  
He offered his hand to Aerith and she greeted equally, Eiko did the same as Aerith.

"Now that everything is official let me just ask you guys a couple of questions, like how long have you guys been married?" Sheppard asked getting a bit animated.  
Leon said 2 years while Aerith said 3 years at the same time.  
Sheppard raised his eyebrow to this.  
Leon and Aerith looked at each other but both of them looked away at the same time.  
"It's been 2 years and 361 days to be precise" Leon said covering up once again.  
Dam, he was getting good at lying.  
"Wow! It has been THAT long!" Sheppard exclaimed loudly.  
'_Dam you Leon, you didn't even tell be about it?_' he thought looking at Leon.  
"You guys are amazing at hiding things, kudos to you" if he wasn't loud enough as it is, he had crosses all the boundaries of the word 'Loud' now.  
"To be honest, you guys look great together" he said honestly.  
Leon simply ignored the comment while Aerith blushed.

Leon didn't wanted to hear anything thing else so he stood up from his chair and motioned towards the door.  
Aerith and Eiko also followed his league.  
Sheppard walked in front of his desk and then made his way towards the door.  
He opened the door for them as Aerith exited with Eiko.  
Sheppard quickly whispered to Aerith on her way out, "Thanks for marrying this stubborn as mule friend of mine. Take good care of him, okay."  
Aerith smiled and waked out of the office and Leon was about to do the same.  
Leon's one foot was outside the door while his other foot was still inside the chancellor's room.  
"Aerith, wait for me outside. I have some unfinished business to take care of" his tone left no room for arguments so Aerith simply obliged with it.

Leon stepped back in and closed the door.  
Sheppard said to himself "Oh-oh this can't be good."  
Leon looked at the smaller man.  
Sheppard was visibly scared.  
Leon grabbed him with one hand and lifted him about two feet above the ground and pinned him against the wall.  
"Do what you have to, but make sure not a single word about this whole admission ordeal should go out of this office, understood?" Leon said dangerously.  
"Yesss...yes…Understood" Sheppard was barely able to say that.  
"Good" Leon said looking into his eyes.  
Leon let go of him and opened the door.  
Leon's one foot was outside the door while his other foot was still inside the chancellor's room and once again he decided to turn back.  
Leon looked at Sheppard and suddenly punched him with his left hand.  
Sheppard would have been knocked back a few feet if Leon wasn't holding him with his other hand.  
"Ouch…" he screamed in obvious pain.  
Sheppard instantly placed his left hand on his swollen cheek and inquired rightfully, "What was that for?"  
Leon replied calmly, "To make sure I am not dreaming."  
"What? You pinch yourself to make sure you are not dreaming, not punch someone else!" he said in disbelief.  
Leon smirked a bit and once again he looked at him and pulled his hand back and delivered a jaw breaking punch to Sheppard.  
This time it was his right hand coming in contact with Sheppard's right cheek.  
Sheppard was thrown back few feet with this impact.  
He crash landed onto his table.  
"This was to make sure that you are not dreaming, my friend" Leon said concluding the conversation.  
Those were the last words before Leon finally walked out of the office.

* * *

Sora visits Traverse Town often but the keyhole in TT is yet to be sealed. Thanks to Sora's regular visits and Leon's constant effort TT has finally became a peaceful place to live. Heatless rarely come into the first and the second district now. So people can go back to their regular life style which they where forced to abandon under unfavorable circumstance. But now that every thing is back to normal a little school has been established. A long forgotten press has also reopened. More and more shops are opening everyday and the economy is constantly booming. More and more buildings are being build everyday and the population is also constantly increasing as people are moving from various other worlds to TT. TT has finally become a place to live and not just a place to stop by...

* * *

It took good 20 minutes for Sheppard to get back to his senses (and to get rid of all the little birdies flying around his head.)  
His left cheek wasn't that bad but his right cheek was completely swollen.  
He stood up and called his secretary. 

Secretary entered the room and saw it in shambles.  
"Oh my god! What happed in here?" the surprised secretary asked.  
Sheppard turned around and secretary was completely shocked to see his face completely swollen.  
"Oh my god! Are you alright, Sir?" he asked getting concerned.  
"I am fine, don't worry about me. Why don't you call press, I have some ground breaking news for them. News which could change the entire atmosphere in Traverse Town" Sheppard replied scheming.  
"Oh my god! Ground breaking new! What is it sir?" asked the ever so curious secretary.  
"Excuse me, I thought I told you to get press people" he said getting a bit annoyed.  
"Oh my god! I am so sorry, I'll go inform the press right now" secretary said hurriedly before running out of the office.

Sheppard stood and dusted himself and walked over to the window.  
He was looking at the kids playing outside when his mind started wondering off_, 'Leon has been protecting Traverse Town since he was a young teen. For past seven years he had put his life on the line everyday for the safety of TT. It is safe to say that without Leon there would be no Traverse Town. People read about heroes in the books, in the fictions but Leon turned out to be a real life hero. A real legend. Everyone in Traverse Town owes their life to him and naturally he is very well respected among everyone. For the up coming generation he is their icon, a real true life hero and a true Lion'_  
'_Then there is Aerith, a perfect girl, that's all you can say for her. She does not have any fighting abilities but she is also a savior of this town. Thanks to her white magic she has saved so many lives thus far. She has served Traverse Town for last nine years. She does not only heal people but her very presence also heals the spirit of the people around her. She is a very stable headed lady and for her; happiness of the others always comes before her own happiness. After every major heartless attack we see her working nonstop for days, to heal people. She is a perfect caretaker. A perfect match for a reckless Lion_'

* * *

Leon and Aerith are rightfully treated like celebrities in Travers Town. Their every action is followed by hundred's of people and they are always the center of the attraction in this town. 

"They are perfect for each other. They look so good together" he said to the only person in room…himself.  
Sheppard rubbed his hands in excitement and said to himself, "I have to tell this news to everyone in TT."  
"I might get a back eye, a broken nose, and few concussions and maybe dozen fractures from Leon but I think it's worth the price" he concluded.  
"Honestly I still can't believe that they are married" he said before closing the blinds of his window.

By the time the press people arrived the room was back to normal but same cannot be said about Sheppard's face.  
Anyway Sheppard was ready to deliver his ground breaking news.  
"I have called you here to give you very special news" Sheppard announced proudly.  
"News that would give Traverse Town something cheery to talk about, for a change" he continued.  
"Making long story short, I am proud to announce that Leon is married to… … … Aerith!" he exclaimed excitedly.  
As soon as the reporters heard that all of them fell from their chair (in anime style of course)  
Sheppard turned towards his secretary who was also on the floor, he smiled at him and said "Didn't I tell you that I have some earth shattering news."  
"Oh my god! Sir!" was all the secretary was able to say.  
Man with two swollen cheeks smiled at said to the reporters, "And now I am going to tell you the full story..."

* * *

_**Special Thanks**_ to Moronic Irony for editing/beta-reading this story!

* * *

**  
A/n:  
**Well the real fun is about to begin.  
_**So what do you think about it? Like it? Love it? Hate it?Please let me know in a review, I'd be waiting.**_


	2. Episode 2 The beginning of the Afterlife

**! The Beginning of the Afterlife !  
...**

Leon meet Aerith and Eiko outside the school; from there they made their way towards the hotel. Neither Aerith nor Leon said a word as they both walked side by side. They both loves silence, but this silence was unnerving for both of them.

They where occasionally greeted by the people passing by. Aerith smiled and replied to all of them while Leon just ignored everything around him. Aerith wasn't sure of how much Leon was upset with her, so after painstaking five minutes of silence she decided to break the silence. Aerith opened her mouth to say something but Leon beat her to it. "I am going to the cavern for some training; (and to be alone) I'll see you guys later" he announced.

Without waiting for any sort of response he just leaped from the walkway and disappeared from the sight in matter of seconds. Aerith released a long sigh which she was holding back. Eiko tugged at Aerith's sleeve and inquired "What's up with him?" Aerith smiled and replied "I wish I could answer that."

From there on 'Silence' was unknown factor as both Aerith and Eiko started talking about various things as they made their way to the hotel.

"Is he always like that? How do you deal with him daily if he is always so quite? How long have you guys been together?" Eiko bombarded her with questions.

"Gosh Eiko show down, one question at a time okay?" Aerith replied with a smile. "And between me and Leon, it's not like what you think" she continued after a brief pause. Eiko covered up her mouth in surprise. Aerith was very confused to see this reaction from her, so she inquired "What?"

"Oh my gosh! So its not like what I think? That means there is more to it? How often do you guys fight? Who proposed for the marriage?" Eiko exclaimed and said all that in one breath. "Eiko, he is NOT my boyfriend and the marriage which you are talking about never happ—" Aerith couldn't finish her sentence as Eiko cut her off "Of course he is not your boyfriend he is you HUSBAND" Eiko emphasized on the word husband.

Aerith sighed and declared, "Okay I give up. I'll let Leon handle this one"

Eiko put her hand on head in almost Squall's style and said "Geez, you are so dependent on him? All I asked you where normal questions about you and your husband and you weren't even able to give me proper answers. I seriously think that you should do some consulting with the expert."

"Consulting about what? And with whom?" she asked with obvious confusion in her voice.

"Consulting with me of course. You see, I am expert when it comes to all this stuff. I'll give you advice which no body can. I'll tell you all the secrets about boys and guess what; I'll do all that for you for free" she said all that proudly

"You and expert? You are just six years old what can you possibl—" Aerith stated the fact trying her best not to sound harsh. "So what?" Eiko retorted jumping up and down in her usual style.  
(For those who have played FF9 should know what I am talking about; it's her typical expression when she is angry)

"So what if I am six years old? I bet I have more knowledge and skills about this romantic stuff than you and Leon combined. And for your information I am not six, I am six and a half years old, alright" she said angrily.

"Okay, okay I get it" Aerith said trying to calm her down. Much to Aerith's surprise she calmed down instantaneously and continued as if nothing happened.

"Ok so back to my questions. So like when and where was the first time you meet him? And who made the first move? How old where you when all this started between you and Leon?"

Aerith sighed and said "Oh god, not again." Thankfully for Aerith the hotel was in sight now but unfortunately Eiko was at her best. '_I wonder what would have Leon done in this sort of situation_' she thought. A picture of Leon pulling his gunblade came in front of her eyes. Aerith freaked out a bit by the precision of her mind, '_Eek! Not that, any other option?_'  
(A light bulb could almost be seen on top of her head)  
'_Of course, I'll do the same thing which he does when Yuffie is pestering him_' she thought with a smile.  
So she did what Leon does the best, ignore.

They had barely moved a few feet when Aerith saw a strange looking cloud in the sky and a certain spiky head blond overtook her thoughts. She was so preoccupied in her thoughts that she even passed the hotel, but luckily Eiko pulled her out of her trance by tugging on to her sleeves.

"I don't know if you know this or not but I think we just passed the hotel where you stay in" Eiko said rolling her eyes. Aerith was immediately brought back to reality, "Oops sorry about that" she said with a smile.

"Gosh! I know you hubby is not around but you can't think about him all the time you know" Eiko said trying to get her point through.  
Aerith sighed and complained to herself, '_This is definitely not the kind of daughter I was expecting to have._'

* * *

Aerith left Eiko in the green room and then she came back outside to enter her room. She opened the red room with her key and entered. 

"Every herd of knocking?" said Yuffie mockingly. After finishing her sentence she started ginning, '_Ha ha your own dialogue at you, that is nice._'

"Yuffie, Cid, what are you guys doing here?" Aerith asked with a tinge of surprise.

"We are trying to blow up this building to smithereens" Cid said sarcastically.

"What? Why?" Aerith asked dumbfounded.

"Calm down Aerith, the old man is just joking" Yuffie said giggling.

"We were waiting for you guys, ain't that obvious?" Cid said that after chewing his straw.

"Aren't we missing a head?" Yuffie asked the obvious. "So where is our new born daddy?" she was going to continue but suddenly something clicked, '_Wait, that doesn't sound right?_'

"I think she meant to ask, 'where is Leon?' right brat?" said Cid clearing up the confusion.

"Hey! Just who you calling brat old fart?" Yuffie retorted.

"Not you of course, even I know that's its bad to call someone a brat in from of 'em" Cid said with a smirk.

"That's it, you days are over…" she said trying to sound as threatening as she possibly can.

"Knock it off you two" Aerith said massaging her temples.

"Anyway, so how did the interview go? Did she get accepted?" Cid finally asked something useful.

"Did they buy our story?" Yuffie inquired curiously.

Aerith replied after thinking for a while, "Yes and No"

Both Yuffie and Cid said simultaneously "What?"

"Eiko did get accepted in the school but our plan failed miserably" she said delivering half good and half bad news.

"If our plan failed then how did she get in?" Cid asked scratching the back of his head.

"Long story…" Aerith said with a sigh.

"I've got nothing but time" Yuffie replied with a grin.

"Ya I want to know too" said Cid agreeing with Yuffie for the first time.

Aerith took a deep breath before starting, "Okay here it goes…everything was going according to the plan but once Leon submitted his papers they told us that everything with adaptation was fine but single parenting is not allowed. Since Leon is single, they rejected our application."

"What the hell?" was Cid's obvious reaction.

"Woh! That's not fair" Yuffie exclaimed.

Aerith continued, "But Leon quickly covered it up by saying that he is not single but he just does not want to reveal the true identity of his wife for some personal reasons."

Yuffie's face suddenly lit up, "Eek! So now we gotta find him a wife too…that's just great...that's wonderful…that's just freaking awesome…that's terrifi—"

Cid placed a hand on Yuffie's mouth and said "Ok, we get the idea so would you stop saying the same thing in ten different ways so we can move on with the story?

"okay okay, gee you don't have to be like my grumpy partner too" she said referring to Squall.

"Anyway so I was thinking the same thing that since single parenting is not allowed and since we already declared that Leon has adopted Eiko, we don't have a choice but to find Leon a wife." Aerith informed.

"But that's next to impossible. It would take forever to convince him for THAT and by the time we would be able to do it, Eiko would be old enough to go to the freakin college" Yuffie said as the seriousness of the situation dawned upon her.

"Yes that's why I decided not to give Leon an option" Aerith said closing her eyes.

"So what did ya do?" Cid asked chewing further on his already chewed up straw.

Aerith looked down a bit and said in a barely audible voice, "So I became Leon's wife!"

"You WHAT?" Cid said loud enough so that everyone within two blocks could hear him.

"I think I heard it wrong too" Yuffie said patting his back.

Before the conversation could go any further, Eiko opened the door between the two rooms and peaked in. Eiko was hearing all this conversation for the other side of the room as she entered right on cue. Eiko looked at Aerith and said, "Umm Ms. Aerith Leonhart can I have something to drink?" emphasizing the words Aerith Leonhart.

Both Cid and Yuffie asked simultaneously, "Aerith WHO?"

Eiko repeated, "Leonhart; Aerith Leonhart"

Once again Cid and Yuffie said in unison, "Aerith Leonhart!"

Aerith said in an apologetic tone, "I am sorry…but there was no other way…" Before Aerith could say anything else she heard two loud thuds. Yuffie and Cid, knocked out! Out of surprise or happiness or due to a bad shock? Who knows?

Eiko looked at Aerith and asked, "What happened to them?"

"Its juts that…ummm…why don't you ask them once they wake up" she tried her best to answer but she couldn't. Aerith quickly grabbed a bottle of orange soda and handed it to Eiko. The basic idea was to prevent her from asking anymore questions. Eiko, who was rally thirsty grabbed the bottle and a straw and went back to the green room.

Aerith sighed… '_phewwww, I wish I don't have to answer any more questions today. Oh Leon where are you when I need you the most…_'

The door connecting the two room opened once again and Eiko poked her head inside and said, "Aerith, I will ask you more questions once I finish my drink, okay?" Aerith sighed once again and replied, "Fine…"

Cid and Yuffie where still out and Aerith didn't bother to get them up from the floor, as she knew that they will wake up automatically once they smell food. It was almost evening and she knew that the hungry soldiers of TT would need some food. Cooking was her hobby, a duty and a part of her daily routine which she enjoys the most. So to forget everything that has happened so far and everything that might happen next, she engaged herself into her favorite hobby.

* * *

Leon swung his blade furiously three times in a succession and each time he asked himself just one question, '_why? Why? WHY?_' Leon screamed, "I don't want a wife, I don't want a kid, I don't want anything, I just wanted to be left alone, is that asking for too much?" Leon thoughts soon followed his earlier statement, '_I might not be a saint but at least I am not a devil, I do not deserve this._' 

Leon swung his gunblade once again while saying, "Out of all the people in this dam world it had to be Aerith who turns out to be my wife."

'_Correction, FAKE wife_' his mind corrected his grammatical mistake.

Leon sighed, '_Although we've been living together since past seven years, things would be different now among us. Even though it's just a fake marriage things won't be the same anymore._'

Leon dropped his gunblade on his side, '_Out of all the people around me Aerith is the only person who I think who can understand me. She is the only sane one around. Although we (Leon, Cid, Yuffie & Aerith) are considered as a family, Aerith was always special to me. She was my true friend, no that would be an understatement, she was always more then a friend to me. But now even though it is fake, she is my freaking wife! I would never be able to look at her in the same way._'

Leon collapsed on the floor, '_I know Eiko's schooling was important but she did not have to do this, I would have found a way out, she just needed to trust me._' Leon shook his head and stood up for some more training.

After three hours…of some serious training Leon was now really tired. Normally during his prolonged training sessions he takes a break after every 20 minutes. But today his mind was so engulfed in thoughts that he didn't even bother to pause for a minute. Finally after letting go of all the steam Leon decided to rest for a while.

He sat on the hard coble stone floor with his back leaning against the wall. '_I don't know what am I so upset about it?_' Leon admitted.  
'_It's not like Aerith did anything wrong. She just did what situation demanded her to do, so its not her fault at all_' Leon thought trying to be reasonable.

'_Plus I should be glad that my fake-wife is Aerith because she knows me better then anyone else, plus her calm, collective and understanding nature is always helpful. Even if I had an option to pick my own wife, who else would I pick?_' Leon wondered.

"But I don't know why, but something just doesn't feel right about all this" his thoughts came out from his mouth.  
... ... ... A little mini devil Leon appeared over the right side of Leon's head.  
... ... ... (**A/n:** Devil Leon and Saint Leon are just part of his annoying consciousness.)  
... ... ... Devil Leon: _I know what's wrong about all this?  
_... ... ... Leon: _What?  
_... ... ... Devil Leon: _You like her and now that she is your wife, you are afraid that your defenses might break down and you might fall for her completely. You are just scared Leon.  
_... ... ... Leon: _Whatever._  
... ... ... D. Leon: _Oh come on now, you can ignore it but you cannot hide it. I know how you feel about her…after all I am you...  
_... ... ... Someone: _Would you shut up?_  
... ... ... D. Leon: _Awee, look who is here, its St. Leon!  
_... ... ... St. Leon appeared to the left side of Leon.  
... ... ... St. Leon: _Leon don't listen to this devil boy, he will just get you distracted.  
_... ... ... D. Leon: _Hey who you calling Devil boy? I am angle, not a devil!  
_... ... ... St. Leon: _Ya right! Then why do you have those horns on you head?  
_... ... ... D. Leon: _umm…good question…_ (starts thinking)  
... ... ... St. Leon: _Listen Leon, we don't have time for all this. Time is of essence, you must find out the truth about the key! You must gather more information about heartless. There are so many questions which need to be answered like what happens when aperson with a strong will dies? What are heartless trying to achieve? What is the key made of? There are countless questions awaiting you. You don't have time to start a family now. Do what you NEED to do, not what you WANT to do!  
_... ... ... D. Leon: _But you like Aerith don't you?  
_... ... ... Leon: _May be, but I don't have time for all that, I must fulfill my duty first.  
_... ... ... D. Leon: _Just look inside you Leon, I know that you want to be with Aerith…  
_... ... ... St. Leon: _Would you please shut up, devil boy?  
_... ... ... D. Leon: _I am NOT devil and the horns on my head are just to keep my halo straight, honestly!  
_... ... ... Both Leon and St. Leon said at the same time, "Whatever"

* * *

Once the food was on the table both Yuffie and Cid woke up and followed its smell all the way to the dining table (like Scooby-doo)  
Aerith called Eiko from the other room and everyone assembled in an orderly fashion. Aerith looked at Cid and Yuffie but they both looked like zombies. '_They haven't said a word since they woke up so either they are still in shock or they are too hungry to speak anything_' she thought feeling uncomfortable. 

'_And on the other hand we have our little big Ms. Eiko. Surprisingly she is also very quite today. The question-answer session which was suppose to take place later on, never happened. I wonder what she has been doing in the other room all day by herself._' she wondered looking at Eiko.

Aerith's stomach demanded her attention too by growling. '_Oh well I am hungry too. We are only missing Leon now_' she thought. Aerith cleared her throat to get everyone's attention, particularly Yuffie's attention. "Yuffie, would you please go get your partner?" asked in her pleasant voice.

"…" no reply came from Yuffie.

"Yuffie?" she asked getting a bit concerned.

"… … " yet no reply from Yuffie. Although her mouth was shut her brain was not, '_Geez I know he is my partner and all but he is your husband now, so why don't YOU go get him.'  
_  
Aerith sighed and said, "Okay guys I am going to go get Leon, so just wait till then okay?"

No one said anything. Aerith looked at all of them said, "I'll take that as a YES"

Once Aerith left the room everyone became active. Yuffie took a fork and raise it above her head and announced, "Attack"  
This was no ordinary attack, this attack was not meant for the heartless but it was meant for the food in front of them.  
Eiko was a bit confused as Aerith said to wait for them and then eat.

So to get a clear idea of what's going on Eiko inquired, "You guys sure you want to eat without Aerith and Leon." Cid put down his fork and spoon in his plate and said in a serious tone, "I hate to do this too… since last seven years we have been like a family. We use to do everything together; eating dinner together had become a custom for us. But its about time we give Aerith and Leon their much needed privacy. If you know what I mean" Cid finished off with a grin.

"Ya like I always say... never miss a chance to pull off a prank" Yuffie added before stuffing her mouth once again.

"After all they just got married so let them have sometime good time together" said Cid, resuming his dinner.

Eiko nodded in agreement. "Aerith and Leon are very slow and their life is very boring. All they do is fight, heal and think about heartless. So its our responsibility to add some entertainment to their lives" the elder girl said with her trademark grin.

"So what are you gonna do?" inquired Eiko.

"Oh that's a secret..." Yuffie said with a devilish grin.

"Let's eat first and talk later. There is so much stuff to do before they get back, so hurry up kiddies" said the old-man-who-thinks-he-is-young.  
"Just who you calling kiddies, you superannuate" Yuffie retorted. "Ya, wanna take it outside?" added Eiko standing up on the dining table.  
"Shut the (censored) up and lets get to work people" Cid announced standing up from his chair.

* * *

Soon after entering almost dark underground cavern Aerith lost her footing and both of her shoes where now filled with swampiest water. '_This stinks…I am literality too…_' she complained. 

On the other hand Leon had finally sorted out his thoughts and this troublesome situation. He was finally relaxed now and was planning to go back to the hotel when he heard some noise behind him. He immediately picked up his gunblade which was resting on the floor and took an attacking stance.

The noise was getting closer to him so he was prepared to strike down anything which dared to come at him. Since it was night, the visibility was very low in the cavern. He heard some splashing like noise coming closer in his direction, it was a similar noise which a heavy heartless can make when they are soaked in water.

Unaware of the fact that it was Aerith, Leon raised his sword above his head, ready to strike down his foe. The creature of his attention finally stepped in front of him and immediately Leon brought down his sword.

Leon was barely able to stop himself when he saw emerald green eyes instead of glowing yellow eyes. His sword was just a couple of centimeters from Aerith's face before he was able to stop his attack.

Meanwhile Aerith had let go of a deafening scream. Her scream was so loud that Leon had to drop his gunblade and cover his ears with his both hands. After a prolongated scream Aerith had finally stopped to breath.

'_Thank god!_' Leon thought as he took his hands off his ears.

"You almost gave me a scar!" she said pointing her finger at Leon.

"Sorry, I wasn't expecting you" he admitted honestly.

"I almost had a heart attack too!" she added as an after thought.

"Well the key word is 'almost'. In the end, nothing happened" Leon pointed out dryly.

"Just because I am your wife on paper does not mean you can start attacking me" she said teasingly.

Leon put his hand on his forehead in his trademark style. "Tee-hee just kidding" she said with a smile. "Good…" he responded in one word.

After a brief silence…  
"So umm, shell we go now?" she inquired. Leon slings his gunblade over his shoulder and nodded.

They where almost at the entrance of the carven yet no words where exchanged among them.

"Leon" she said looking at him

"hmm?"

"Are you still mad at me?" she asked in an uncertain tone.

"Mad at you?" he looked at her quizzically.

"For being you wife and all…" she said in a really low voice

"Oh that…its okay don't worry about it, you did the right thing. There was no other way…" he said trying to comfort her.

"Thanks, I can handle anything but I can't stand you being mad at me so plea—" she said pleadingly.

"Like I said Aerith, don't worry about it" Leon cut her off.

They were finally in the light now (compare to the cavern that is)

It was night and the street lights where glittering. Aerith remembered something and a faint smile came up instantly. She immediately asked Leon, "Hey Leon, is he alright?"

Leon didn't get the question so confusion was evident on his face. "Sheppard…" she whispered.

"Oh…he is alright" said Leon in his usual monotone. "What did you do to him?" she asked slyly with a small smile.

"Just couple of friendly punches and a warning…" he said as if it was no big deal. "Warning?" she asked. The smile on her lips becoming more visible now. "To keep his mouth shut regarding our marriage and all that…" said Leon.

"ohhh…" was all she was able to say before their eyes meet. Leon looked away from her in an instance and continued, "I had to do it to make sure that no one knows about our non-existence wedding."

Leon then revealed his master plan to Aerith and if everything works out like he has planned then no one will every know about Leon-Aerith wedding.

Even before they realized, they where already in front of the hotel.

Leon and Aerith looked at the hotel and they both froze in there steps.

Aerith gulped and said "I've got a bad feeling about this…"

Leon narrowed his eyes before saying, "Something is very wrong. The hotel is pitch dark…there is electricity everywhere else…"

"I hope everyone is okay…" she said getting concerned.

Apparently Leon's mind had as better idea of what was going on, '_I just hope we would be okay after entering it…because with Yuffie-Cid-Eiko inside…anything can happen… What are they scheming? Well there is only one way to find out._' "Aerith lets go…" he commended.

Leon started walking without waiting for Aerith.

Aerith looked at the sky and said, "Here we go…"


	3. Episode 3 Light in the Dark

**! Light in the Dark !  
...**

Leon opened the door of the hotel carefully and poked his head in. Thanks to the light from the outside, very few things where visible inside. So after observing everything for about 30 seconds Leon found no immediate danger so he entered first followed by Aerith. Once the door was shut everything was pitch dark once again.

Leon's initial thoughts where that this was just another prank by Yuffie and her new found companion Eiko. But he did not wanted to take any chances so he pulled out his gunblade. Leon told Aerith to stand still while he moved up a bit further to check it out.

Leon stood there motionless for a minute, trying to sense any sort of movement, but everything was really quite.

Aerith on the other hand was creeping out, "Leon?"

"Yes?" he replied from somewhere.

"Where are you?" she inquired further.

"Here" he replied dryly.

"Umm…good answer…but can you be more descriptive about your actual location?" she asked Leon.

"I am about seven and a quarter feet ahead of you at 47 degrees approx from your current location if you are facing north" he said answering her question to the point. "Was I descriptive enough this time?" he added further.

"Yes…I guess" she said still sounding uncertain.

"Good…I am going upstairs so stay where you are and I'll come get you when the coast is clear" he informed Aerith.

"umm…Leon, can I come with you?" she said nervously.

'_Did she even hear what I just said?_' Leon thought getting a bit annoyed.

"Leon?" she said his name yet again.

"You are scared?" it was more of an statement then an question.

"Not really…it's just that…I ummm" she said trying to defend her pride. Her words and her voice were stating two different things.

'_She is scared…why is she trying to hide it? Its not like I don't know her._' "Fine" he said, much to Aerith's relief.

Aerith stood up and moved forward towards the step but she totally forgot about the small stools they have near the reception area, thus she stumbled upon it. Just before she was about to hit the ground a hand caught her and pulled her towards him with tremendous force. She literally bumped into Leon and their head clashed.

Aerith would have fallen right back because of the impact but Leon was still holding her hand. With his support Aerith stoop up and freed herself from his grip and started rubbing her soar head.

"Are you all right?" he asked with a tinge of concern. "Yes don't worry about me" she said trying to sound brave.  
"Let's go" said Leon focusing back on the current situation.

Leon moved forward and Aerith was following him at a respectable distance. Leon had no problem what-so-ever while Aerith kept on bumping left and right. Leon cursed at himself for forgetting an important accessory, '_Dam, I should brought my night vision goggles_'

As soon as Leon turned towards the stairs a heartless jumped from the top. Leon was able to bring his sword up just in time to block it's sharp claws. The heartless swung its claw again but Leon ducked this time.

The yellow emotionless eyes started at scared Aerith. It is a nature of the heartless to go after the weakest first. So the heartless rushed towards Aerith with great speed. Aerith screamed as she saw that coming. The heartless was barely an inch away from Aerith when it was sliced into two pieces.

Leon said in his normal monotone as if nothing has ever happened, "Lets go"

"No…" she said sounding really scared. Aerith was very very scared and who could blame her? She was literally and inch away from her dead. Aerith grabbed Leon's hand.

'_What now?_' Leon thought getting a bit annoyed.

"No…I am scared… …really scared" she stated the obvious.

"It's over now" he replied straight to the point.

"I am scared... I was really, really scared" she said sounding like a frightened child.

"You're used to battles, aren't you?" Leon pointed out that fact dryly.

"I couldn't...I just couldn't" she said softly still clinging to his arm.

'_So it is not a prank by Yuffie...than this could be dangerous…and Aerith is totally freaked out, that's not going to help…_' he further assessed the situation.

"Just stay close to me, okay" those words would have made a great romantic line if it was a romantic situation and if Leon was a romantic fella but when he said "Just stay close to me, okay" he meant business i.e. stay-close-to-me-so-that-heatless-don't-kill-you kind of business, nothing romantic there.

Aerith nodded and they both made their way up to the stares. Somehow those words were much more comforting then it should have been. It got the job done because Aerith was much more clam and relaxed now.

Aerith was still holding his hand so Leon put his left hand on her hand, slowly released her grip on his hand. "I am not going anywhere; I just need to look around, okay?" he assured her. He heard a soft 'ok' from Aerith.

Leon had had barely moved few steps when he froze for a moment and said to Aerith, "They are here!"

"Who?" she asked softly.

"The heartless…be careful, Aerith" he warned.

'_With their glowing yellow eyes spotting them won't be a problem…right?_' She thought trying to give herself some much needed confidence.

Aerith was looking around cautiously on both side but she didn't bother to check anything behind her since they came from that way. But that turned out to be a mistake. Leon heard a faint rustling noise and he scanned his surrounding quickly.

'_They are near, I can sense them…but why can't I see them?_'

Leon looked around frantically found nothing. His instincts had never failed him so he turned around to tell Aerith to be extra careful. As soon as he turned around he saw two glowing eyes staring right back at him.

Leon yelled, "Aerith duck!"

Even before Aerith's brain could process the words Leon's gunblade was already on its way. Aerith didn't get time to think about Leon's words but she did notice his gunblade coming in an upwards arch which could have easily dethroned her head from her body. So she ducked immediately to avoid Leon's attack.

Her head was lucky enough to escape unscratched but some of hair weren't so lucky and neither was the heartless. As soon as the first heartless was destroyed few more popped out of everywhere. But now that they where visible because of their glowing eyes, they where nothing more then target practice for Leon. He made a quick work of them by dissimilating about a dozen of heartless within a minute while protecting Aerith.

"That's all of them" he declared.

"How do you know?" she asked not sounding too confident.

"You know your enemies and their habits when you fight with them daily" he replied in a monotone.

"ohh..I see" she said.

Leon switched his sword in his left hand and pulled out a key to his room. After trying few time he finally found the key slot in the door knob. He tried to open it but the door didn't even budge. Leon started banging on the door as he yelled, "Yuffie! Cid! Eiko!" While his mouth yelled the names of his friends his mind was yelling something else, '_Come on…open…dam it_'

"Anyone! Someone!" he yelled. '_Guess no one is inside, they must have gone to Cid's shop_' he assumed. '_But why the hell my key is not working?'_ he examined the door knob carefully by touching it and that's when he realized, '_Did Yuffie change the lock again?_' Leon sighed as a harsh fact hit him…

"Aerith I think Yuffie has change the lock again, so I can't get into my room" he stated sounding a bit disappointed. "Don't worry; I have my keys" she said reassuringly.

"Good so once we go in, I can go back to my room through the connecting door" he said that more to himself then to Aerith.

Aerith pulled out her keys and said to Leon, "Let me try." After struggling for about minute she was finally able to open the door.

Aerith turned the knob and entered the room first, while Leon was still outside. As soon as Aerith let go of the door, it started to close automatically.

Leon saw that and before the door could close completely he had placed his right hand between the door frame and the door to prevent it from closing.

Meanwhile Aerith was planning to go towards her drawers go get candles when suddenly a beast jumped up on her.

Out of surprise and fear she stumbled backwards onto the door. She was too frightened to even scream.

Her entire weight was on the door which Leon was holding from the outside.

Leon felt the sudden pressure on the door and tried to get his hand out of the harms way but unfortunately he was not so lucky. He prevented his hand from getting crushed but his fingers got squashed in the process. Leon clenched his teeth in immense agony trying his best not to scream.

Aerith let go a sigh of relief when she realized that the beast which pounced on her only a cat. "Oh it's just you…you scared me Pharaoh…bad boy, don't go that again" she said in a low voice gently patting the back of the cat. After that the cat went back to its favorite hiding place, beneath the bed.

The owner of the hotel had to go out for few days, thus he gave his beloved cat (Pharaoh) to Aerith to take care of him till he returns. She stood up slowly retrieving her back from the door, which finally gave enough space for Leon to salvage his hand.

Leon was clutching his right hand as he was in immense pain. Meanwhile Aerith had finally made her way towards the drawers where she keeps all the candles.

Leon decided to ignore the throbbing pain and move on.  
Leon: (St. Leon: _I know its hurts but there is some priority work to be done, so get up_.)  
Leon: (D. Leon: _No man, just stay here like this and let Aerith know what happened and she might just give you a kiss. It's worth a shot, I am telling you_.)  
Both Leon and (St. Leon) said in unison, "_Whatever_"

Leon stood up and made his way into Aerith's room. Without bothering to see what Aerith was doing Leon went straight for the connecting door. He turned the knob with his left hand, but it didn't open. He turned the knob again, still it didn't budge. He kept of turning the knob frantically again and again yet the results where same. Leon sighed, '_Someone must have locked the door from the other side._' Leon finally gave up and leaned against the door tiredly.

Suddenly the room lit up and Leon looked up wearily. Aerith walked towards him with two candles in her hands.

Aerith inquired, "You okay there?"

Leon replied in his usual monotone, "Ya…I guess"

Aerith extended her hand towards Leon and said, "Here, take this…"

Leon was a bit confused but took the lighting candle anyway, "Why? Is this suppose to make me feel better?"

Aerith smiled and said, "Not really but it's always good to have light when you are in darkness…"

"Why, what's wrong with darkness?" he asked.

"Everything…" she replied sounding much more relaxed now.

"No…there is nothing wrong with darkness. In fact it is because of darkness that we understand the importance of the light" he stated.

"How come?"

"Take this candle for an example. If it is bright and sunny outside do you think anyone would ever use candles? No…because they would not need its mediocre light during sunshine…but look at it now. It is the brightest thing in this darkness. Even a flicker of light can penetrate the darkness…be it the darkness ofthe room or darkness of a person or the darkness of the heart, there is always a light within. As long as you don't lose sight of that light, no darkness would be able to bother you"

Aerith immediately thought of just one person, "Cloud"

"Huh?" Leon asked after hearing a word which was absolutely out of contest to what he had just said.

"Never mind…well lets go…" she said trying to sound normal.

Leon once again asked with confusion evident in his voice, "Go where?"

"To eat; where else…come on now, I am really hungry and I haven't eaten anything all day…" she said finally sounding normal.

"Why?" he asked.

"Cause I was waiting for SOMEONE to show up so we all can eat together…" Aerith said rolling her eyes.

Leon, holding the candle in his left hand walked in the front and Aerith followed closely. "Sorry…" he said referring to what Aerith had said earlier.

"No sorry business now, you have to be more careful about your diet" she said firmly.

"Like I said, I am sorr—" he repeated just to get cut off by Aerith, "And you need to stop skipping meals too"

"But—" he tried to defend himself yet again to be cut off by Aerith, "And don't even get me started on the breakfast…" Leon finally gave up, '_There she goes again…_'

They had finally reached the kitchen/dining hall on the ground floor and Aerith was still lecturing Leon.

* * *

(From the outside)  
Yuffie was looking at them through Leon's night vision goggles. "They just got married today and it looks like Aerith is already commanding Leon. Go Aerith!" she said excitedly. 

"Wow! If Leon could be dominated in such a way, just after few hours then I think anyone could be dominated after the wedding" Eiko exclaimed. "That's it…I wanna get married too…" she said happily.

"Shh…keep it down you numbskulls…Leon has very sharp senses…he would pick up the slightest noise" Cid pointed out the obvious.

* * *

Two candles where placed on each side of the table and the whole room was dimly lighted now. 

Aerith looked at the food and sighed, "I guess we are the only ones left"

"What do you mean?" he asked even though he knew what must have happened.

Aerith came with two plates and placed it on the table and said, "Well we are the only ones left to eat because it looks like others already ate…"

* * *

Cid took out his took pick and threw it on the ground and angrily stepped on it, "Oh…so now we are OTHERS!" 

"Keep it down old man…" Yuffie said covering Cid's mouth.

"Did you forget your own advice?" Eiko shot back at Cid.

* * *

All the food was set on the table as Leon and Aerith sat opposite to each other. Suddenly strong wind started blowing from the outside. There was one window behind Leon which was open. 

Aerith took off her braid and let her hair flow in the wind. She was enjoying the wind like always. For some odd reason blowing wind was always refreshing to her.

Leon had seen Aerith many times but this was the very first time he had seen Aerith enjoying herself. This was the very first time he has seen her real smile, not a fake one. Leon being the master at hiding emotions knows it better then anyone else. She always seems happy and she always has a smile on, but that's just a façade she puts up. She can fool everyone with it but Leon and Cid has always been able to see right through her mask.

For some unknown reason Leon just couldn't keep his eyes off her.

But that soon changed when one strong gust of air had blown off both the candles. It was dark once again, so Aerith had to go find the box of matchstick once more.

The dining area had two windows, one was behind Leon and another was in front of Leon (i.e. at the back of Aerith) because the structure of the hotel formed an 'L' shape.

Once she found the matches she handed it to Leon. Leon took one match out and ignited it…but instead of lighting candle he was just holding it…as he looked behind Aerith.

Aerith though that Leon was looking at her, so she blushed a bit in embarrassment. But by the time Aerith looked up, the match was about to go out and before it she could point out that fact to Leon the remaining part of the match had burned out.

Leon didn't notice it either until it was too late as his already injured fingers where also burned now. Leon quickly grabbed another matchstick and ignited it…but once again the same process was repeated but this time Aerith blew the match off before it could burn Leon again.

Leon stood up from his place, dropped the matchstick box to Aerith and went to the window behind Aerith. He looked out of the window but found nothing.

Aerith had lit up the candles by the time Leon came back to his seat.

The dim light filled the room once again and the atmosphere was also beautiful.

"Anything wrong?" she asked sounding concern.

"I thought I saw something…" Leon said quietly. '_My night vision goggles to be precise_' Leon just shrugged it off, "Nevermind let's just eat"

* * *

Yuffie, Eiko and Cid relaxed once Leon went back. 

"phewww…that was too close for comfort" Yuffie exhaled loudly. "Yup…that was too close" said Eiko agreeing with her.

"You know what? Let's go to the other side so that Leon can't see us" Cid stated his idea.

"Good idea gramps" Eiko said supporting Cid.

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME YOU—" this time four hands were placed in Cid's mouth to prevent him from causing anymore noise.

* * *

Aerith started eating as she was really hungry. Leon on the other hand was having extremely difficult time even breaking a piece with his knife and fork. He is right handed and with his fingers completely swallowed up (thanks to the door incident) he couldn't do much with them. 

After minute or two Aerith had noticed that Leon's dish was still full. She decided to take a straight approach would not be a good idea so she continued eating normally while taking sneak peaks at Leon.

Aerith was about to put a piece in her mouth when she saw Leon's swollen right hand. She immediately dropped her fork and gently pulled Leon's hand towards her. Leon was a reluctant at first but then decided to show his hand to the healer as he knew that it would have to fixed soon, so he can fight again.

"Oh my God! What happened to it?" she said painfully after looking at Leon's hand.  
... Leon: (D. Leon: _Tell her..._)  
... Leon: (St. Leon: _Don't tell her..._)

After a brief silent moment Leon said, "I injured myself during training." Leon lied because he did not wanted to make her feel bad about it.

"How come you didn't say anything when I came to get you? We could have fixed it earlier you know" she said getting very concern.

"I didn't think it was too important" he replied in a monotone.

If there was one man alive who this planet who could flare up Aerith's temperature the it had to be Leon, "You WHAT? Do you have any idea about what could have happened to you?" Aerith was angry now and she was giving him another lecture for being so careless.

* * *

"Ya got for it Aerith, that jerk totally deserves it…" Yuffie said cheering from the sideline, not visible to the duo inside. 

"Oh boy…I just can't wait to get married now. The first thing I am going to do once I go to the school is to find and nice looking boyfriend…" Eiko said dreamily.

"Shh…" gestured Cid trying to clam down two very hyper girls.

* * *

"Leon, why do you do this to yourself?" she asked a question which was not supposed to be answered. 

"…"

"Look I am sorry if I said anything I was not suppose to say…but…its just that…I..." she said looking at Leon.

Leon saw her struggling with words so he said, "… don't worry about it…"

"Let me see that" she demanded pointing at his plate.

Leon nodded and Aerith pulled Leon's plate towards her and took a small piece on the fork and offered it to Leon. Obviously Leon was very confused as he had no idea what Aerith was trying to do. So Aerith instructed Leon, "Come on, open your mouth"

Leon still not too sure did as Aerith said. Aerith put that piece in Leon's mouth. Aerith broke another piece and readied it for Leon.

Leon ate another piece like that, but he was getting really uncomfortable with this situation so he asked Aerith, "Aerith why are you doing this?"

"For starters I am doing this because I care about you, because I am your friend, because you just saved my life few minutes ago for the gazillionth time, because I am sorry for dragging you into trouble all the time, because you are injured, because—" she was finally cut off by Leon when he placed his left hand on Aerith's mouth and said a tinge of a smile, "I think I get the idea…"

Aerith smiled brightly at him and said, "Good" and cheerfully went back to her work. Piece by piece they she had feed him everything in this dish. There was also his favorite soup which he wanted to drink himself but Aerith was persistent on not letting Leon use his injured hand.

* * *

"Aweeeee how romantic!" Yuffie said clasping her hands together. 

"Candle light dinner! How awesome…good idea everyone…" Eiko complimented.

"Looks like our plan did work after all" Cid said with a smirk, "although those heartless where unexpected visitors" he added as an after thought.

* * *

"Leon why don't you go to the room, I'll come there once I am done cleaning these things" she said. 

"Well but…my room is locked…I can't say in yours…I think I'll go to Cid's shop for the night" Leon said in his usual monotone.

* * *

Cid's jaw dropped when he heard that, "Holly#$&…People run for your life…we have to get there before Leon or we are so dead." 

Yuffie, Eiko and Cid took off from there and dashed straight to the shop.

* * *

"That's not fair" she exclaimed 

"What?" he asked.

"Yuffie and Eiko should already be there and you want to go to…" she said softly. "You want to live me alone in this entire hotel!" she pointed out.

"Then why don't you come along too?" Leon replied dryly.

"Well Cid's shop is not big enough to accommodate all of us… Why don't you stay here?" she offered.

"Like I said I can't get into my room…" Leon pointed out the obvious.

"Then stay in mine…" she replied without missing a beat.

After thinking for a while Leon said, "hmm…we don't have any other option…fine, I'll get the couch."

Aerith was more then relieved to hear that, "Why don't you go ahead, I'll be there in about five minutes…"

"Okay…see you soon" he agreed.

Leon stood up and said to Aerith, "Thank you Aerith…" Although they sound very simple they meant a lot to her.

Aerith replied in a very cherry voice, "Anytime for my dear husband" Leon placed his injured hand on his forehead in his trademark style... Of course she was teasing Leon.

Aerith was still giggling when Leon turned around to go upstairs. On his way back Leon stopped once more and said, "Aerith don't ever change…"

Aerith didn't quite get what Leon was trying to say but before she could ask him anything he was already gone. Aerith "Sometime I just don't understand that guy…"

* * *

By the time Aerith reached into her room Leon was fast asleep. She pulled out a warm blanked and covered Leon with it. 

Aerith was also very tired but decided that this would be the best time to treat Leon's wounds. So she grabbed her medical kit and pulled a chair right next to the couch.

For a moment she just stared at the sleeping Lion and placed her left hand on his left cheek. Even she did not realize when those few moments turned into few minutes…

'_You have to stop seeing your Cloud in him_' her mind warned her. '_Cloud is Cloud and Leon is Leon. Leon cannot take Cloud's place likewise Cloud can never be Leon. So stop fooling around, stop fooling yourself Aerith_' this was a fact and she could not deny it. Aerith sighed and said to herself, '_Oh Cloud where are you?_'

Even before Aerith could clean his would she too fell asleep. She was leaning from the chair as her head was resting on Leon's chest and her hand was still on his face.

* * *

Next day morning… 

A newspaper came crashing through the window of the accessory shop and bounced of from Cid's skull. Early morning curses could be heard from Cid's room. "Score" yelled Huey happily before running away to deliver rest of the newspaper.

Mr. Cid Highwind can skip his morning coffee but he just cannot begin his day without reading the newspaper… So when Cid's temper subsided down a bit, he grabbed the folded news paper and opened it.

As soon as he saw a large picture of Leon and Aerith on the front page his straw automatically dropped from his mouth when he uttered, "HOLY!#$"


	4. Episode 4 A Public Secret

**! A Public Secret !  
...  
**

Next day morning…

A newspaper came crashing through the window of the accessory shop and bounced of from Cid's skull. Early morning curses could be heard from Cid's room. "Score" yelled Huey happily before running away to deliver rest of the newspaper.

Mr. Cid Highwind can skip his morning coffee but he just cannot begin his day without reading the newspaper… So when Cid's temper subsided down a bit, he grabbed the folded news paper and opened it.

As soon as he saw a large picture of Leon and Aerith on the front page his straw automatically dropped from his mouth when he uttered, "HOLY!#$"

* * *

Aerith's sleep was interrupted by constant chirping of birds just outside her window. She covered her face with an extra pillow besides her, hopping that it would reduce that noise and she might get a chance to sleep a bit more, but no luck. 

After a while Aerith pulled away the pillow and wondered still half asleep, "How come this works for Yuffie and not for me?" Aerith looked at the clock and sighed a bit, "Oh well, its time to get up."

She pushed herself off the bed and went towards her closet, that's when she realized that she was sleeping in bed. The events from the previous night quickly came back. The last thing she remembered was sitting next to Leon and cleaning his wound. She had no idea what happened after that, thus she guessed, "I must have fallen asleep."

She inquired to herself, "Wait! If I fell asleep on the chair then how did I ended up in my bed?" Her mind answered this question for her sarcastically, '_A heartless must have carried you to the bed. A heartless named Leon._'

She didn't know why but just the though of him instantly lit up her face. She stretched out and walked towards the window. She opened a jar on the table and took a hand full of grains and sprinkled it outside for the birds. The chirping almost stopped within few moments as the birds were busy eating grains.

Aerith was quietly observing this when a strong wing started blowing. It was a brief sudden violent windstorm… "It is 'squall'" she said with a smile.

The strong wind blew away the bark clouds in the sky… Aerith gasped and said, "No!… cloud…" Suddenly all the color on her face was drained…

"Noooo… no squall can push clouds away… Cloud, you can't go… I won't let you go… I'll wait for you…" she said painfully. A pair of tears escaped from Aerith's eyes…

The raging squall started to calm down as the clouds covered up the area once again as it started to rain…

* * *

Leon was training at his favorite place. He swung his gunblade four times in a quick succession with his left hand. Even though it felt very uncomfortable to use his gunblade with his left hand he was still very good at it. His proficiency with his weapon was mind-boggling. 

After three hours of intense training, exercises and some self made drills, it was finally time to sit back and relax for a while. Like usual Leon sat on the cobblestone floor. He brought one knee up and rested his right hand on it, while his other leg was stretched straight out in front of him.

He heard a thunderstorm raging outside. He leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes as he remembered another thunderstorm few days ago…

**_/Flashback_**  
It was raining heavily outside, so no one was in sight. Leon was sitting on the stairs by the entrance of the first district.

A massive battle against the heartless had taken place earlier at the same location. Leon and Yuffie had fought for more the two hours non-stop, so naturally they both were exhausted and the constant down pore was not helping either.

Yuffie had just left Leon as she was completely worn out… Leon was alone, like he has always been…

He was sitting on the stairs and started thinking about everything he had lost to the darkness… his hometown… his friends… his family… everything he had ever worked for was snatched away by the darkness… His on going thought process was stopped by a rumbling noise of an engine. Leon looked up towards the sky and saw a big gummy ship descending slowly. "Finally…"

The gummy ship landed smoothly and its door opened slowly but no one emerged from it. So Leon decided to take a closer look at it. He stood up and made his way towards the gummy ship, carrying a gunblade in his right hand.

Leon stood in front of the gummy ship but no activated were noticed for some time. So Leon turned around and started walking back towards the hotel.

Leon has barely moved five steps when someone leaped out of the gummy ship. It was a person in black outfit and a keyblade held tightly by both hands, ready to strike down Leon with an overhead slash.

Leon had anticipated the attack, thus he jumped backwards and spun in midair and swung his gunblade in an arc at 180 degrees.

The black figure quickly switched from offense to defense in order to protect his head being chopped off. The person in black was barely able to bring down his keyblade to block Leon's attack. They both landed and their little sparring session continued.

It was Leon's power and techniques versus his opponents speed and agility. After fighting for a while they knew that they won't get result anytime soon, so their sparring session into a stalemate.

The keyblade wielder, "You look in top shape Leon"

"It's good to see you, my king?" he said revealing the identity of the mysterious person.

"So, how long it has been?" asked the king.

"Long enough" he replied.

They both relaxed from their fighting stance.

"So what brings you here?" Leon asked.

"A favor" was King's short and to the point answer before revealing the details, "Heartless recently destroyed yet another world, it was known as Gaia."

"Dam! Any survivors?" he asked getting a bit concerned.

"Just one…" King Mickey replied sounding really disappointed.

"That's it?" Leon was surprised to hear that.

King Mickey replied with a sad face, "Yes, unfortunately I was too late…"

"…so any trace of Riku or Kairi?" Leon asked trying to change the subject.

"Nope, what about Sora, how is he doing?" the king asked.

"He is working really hard. He understands his responsibly. With Donald and Goofy by his side, there is nothing to worry about" Leon assured.

"Good…" said King Mickey with a smile. But that smile quickly disappeared and King Mickey continued, "Leon, things are much worst then we imagined; it's going to be ugly from here on so be very careful"

Leon just nodded in response.

King Mickey said sadly, "Leon, when I reached Gaia, everything was destroyed. Darkness had consumed everything; the heartless had almost destroyed the planet. But I was surprise to see just one creature was still stand tall, it was still fighting.

Leon just raised his eyebrow in curiosity, as he knew that there are very few things that can stand against darkness.

"It was a guardian, Medeen" King Mickey revealed.

"Impossible!" he said in disbelief.

King Mickey continued, "It was trying to protect, Eiko."

"Eiko?" he asked.

"The girl I saved" the king reminded.

"Oh…"

"Well, so you know what that means don't you?" King Mickey asked an obvious question.

"Don't worry; I'll protect her with my life" Leon assured the King.

After thinking for a while King Mickey said, "Leon I don't know how to say this but… she has lost everything… her family, her friends… everything she ever loved, is gone… and she is still small… so just protecting her wont be enough, you will have to take care of everything for her, from her schooling to fighting abilities… I know you are not good with all this stuff but you can't be her guardian, her mentor; like are to Yuffie… you would have to be some thing more then that."

Leon sighed as he knew where this conversation was heading.

King Mickey continued, "You would have to be her father…"

Leon put his hand on his forehead and thought, _'Oh please, give me a break!'  
_  
"Try your best to keep her happy…" King Mickey added further.

Leon shook his head, '_Don't you know that it is impossible to keep a woman happy!_'

Leon took his hand of from his forehead, '_I'd rather fight 10000 heartless barehanded then dealing with all this._'

"So what is it going to be? Are you up for it?" King Mickey asked hastily.

Leon was about to reply with his famous one word reply, "Whateve—" but his one-word-sentence was cut off by King Mickey, "Sure you are up for it. I knew it."

"But I didn't even say that" Leon retorted.

King Mickey totally ignored Leon's last comment, "Oh Leon you are the best. I am sorry to kinda force everything on you like this…"

Leon sighed once more, '_This is great; I don't even get an option._'

King Mickey looked at disappointed-beyond-belief Leon and said, "I am sure that you will do what is necessary."

Leon gave King Mickey a typical 'Leon look' before saying, "I won't let you down."

King Mickey released a long breath, "Thank you Leon, that's one less thing for me to worry about."

King Mickey pulled out a letter from the pocket of his black coat and gave it to Leon, "Here, take this. Give it to Aerith and don't read it, okay?"

Leon had a confused look on his face but he still obliged with King's request.

"I am sure Aerith will be glad to help you out in this. She will take care of most of the stuff, so you can focus on the heartless" he said confidently.

Leon nodded once again.

"When all the hell breaks loose, Eiko will a great asset to us. She still does not know how to summon; once she fell unconscious, Medeen was automatically summoned to protect her. I'd tell Merlin to hone her magic skills so she can get proper command on her guardian" he advised.

"Where is she right now?" Leon asked

"She is still sleeping inside the gummy ship, go get her" King pointed out.

Leon went inside the gummy ship and saw a small innocent girl, lying motionless. He checked her pulse purely out of the habit. Leon moved some hair from Eiko's face and looked at her… "So… darkness didn't spare you either" Leon said in a deep and low voice. "I may not be able to give you what you have lost but from here on, you won't lose anything more. I promise…" he said before standing up and gently scooping up the little girl and walked out of the gummy ship.

"Leon, I have to go now. Take care of everything here" Ling Mickey said waving at Leon. Leon just nodded in response.

King Mickey entered his gummy ship and waved once again before taking off.  
_**/Flashback ends**_

Leon opened his eyes and looked at his watch, "I have to go see Merlin." Leon stood up from there and made his way to Merlin's house.

It was not even 5 minutes after Leon left; that Cid entered Leon's sacred training ground. He was looking for Leon, to give him some shocking news.

Cid was surprised to see that Leon was not there. Cid cursed when he realized that he had ran all this way from the hotel in vain. '_If Leon is not here, then he must be at Merlin's_' So Cid's next destination was Merlin's house.

When Cid arrived at Merlin's house he was informed that Leon had already left. Luckily, they knew where Leon was heading for. Leon himself was looking for Cid so he went to Cid's shop. Without waiting for another second, Cid ran out of that area hoping to catch Leon at his shop.

Leon couldn't find Cid in this shop/house so he made his way towards the hotel. As soon as Leon stepped into the public, he started getting, what Leon describes as funny looks. But like everything else, he simply ignored it.

But poor Cid was late once again.

Leon walked into the hotel and as expected everyone was back, except Cid. Yuffie and Eiko had already started their breakfast. Leon kept his gunblade on the side and walked over to the dining area where he was greeted by ever cheerful Aerith, "Good morning Leon." Leon just nodded.

To the outsiders it might be rude but for those who live with Leon, it was normal behavior. Leon took his seat and helped himself with some orange juice.

Leon looked at Yuffie asked her in I-mean-business like tone, "Do you have a good excuse for missing training today?"

Yuffie looked at him sheepishly.

Just by looking at him Yuffie knew that Leon was in bad mood. He absolutely hates when Yuffie slacks off from training. "…Yes?" he decided to press the matter further after not getting any answer from her.

Yuffie couldn't think of a good excuse so she started fiddling away.

Aerith saw all this and thought that she might have to step in between to break them up… like always. "Leon… let her eat first and then ask all the questions you need to" she said in her soft voice.

"Aerith, don't spoil her" he said looking at Aerith.

Aerith came from the kitchen and took a seat next to Leon. "I needed some help in cleaning all the stuff here, so I called Yuffie for some help. I thought that you wouldn't mind if she misses a training session. So it is really my fault, I am so sorry about it" Aerith said sincerely.

Yuffie looked at Aerith with gratitude written all over her face. Aerith just smiled at Yuffie.

Leon knew that Yuffie must have overslept and now Aerith is trying to cover up.

Leon decided to drop this matter for now as he started eating his breakfast.

Leon was struggling a bit to eat with his right hand. Everyone on the table saw that and Yuffie just couldn't resist to pass a comment on that. Yuffie looked at Aerith and said, "Aerith may be you wanna feed you husband again, like you did last night."

Aerith looked down immediately in embarrassment while Leon almost chocked on his orange juice.

Eiko's eyes widened at that and she immediately kicked Yuffie in leg. Yuffie looked and Eiko and realized her mistake and covered her mouth with her hands.

Leon looked up slowly and asked Yuffie in a very serious tone, "How do YOU know that?"

Yuffie cursed at her bluntness, '_Dam you and dam your big mouth Yuffie. Now you are in serious trouble._' Yuffie couldn't think of anything fast enough but luckily Eiko came to her aid. "Just a wild guess you know…" Eiko said trying to cover it up.

"Whatever" said Leon.

"Well it wasn't that hard to guess what two people with romantic skills of a black widow would do when left alone" Eiko added trying to get her point through.

"Ya, you can guess this sort of stuff by watching movies and by reading few romantic books" Yuffie added even though it was not needed.

"But you don't do either of them" Leon pointed out dryly.

"But I do… and Yuffie is under my training, so she is qualified to guess correctly" said Eiko standing up once again for her partner in crime.

"Whatever" Leon commented.

Eiko slowly whispered to Yuffie, "the key" and suddenly Yuffie's face lit up.  
(A light bulb could almost be seen on top of her head)

"Oh boy, I totally forgot…" Yuffie exclaimed. Yuffie stood up from her seat and pulled out a key from her pocket and gave it Leon. Leon looked the key and knew what it was for.

"Leon, our old lock wasn't working properly, so I had to change it" self proclaimed, the great ninja Yuffie informed.

"What do you mean it wasn't working? You changed it like two weeks ago!" he said in disbelief.

Yuffie completely ignored Leon's question and asked him a question of her own, "Oh that reminds me that since I changed that lock and forgot to give you the key, you would have no access to our room. So where did you sleep last night Leon?"

Aerith was drinking water when this question was asked and she immediately chocked on it.

Although nothing happened between them, it would be hard to explain that. Leon turned to look at Aerith for some help but instead he found Aerith looking at him already. Leon sighed and turned back towards Yuffie, "Due to some unfavorable circumstances I ended up sleeping in Aerith's room last night."

Both Eiko and Yuffie said together, "Oooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh"

"Soooooooooooooooo WHAT exactly did you guys do last night?" Yuffie pressed the matter further.

"Should I cover my ears?" Eiko commented jokingly.

Yuffie turned towards Eiko and said, "Shhhh!" she then looked at Leon and asked him, "Ya, so like I was saying; what happened between you guys last night?"

"Nothing" was Leon's one word reply to sum up everything.

"What?" said Yuffie with a shock in her face.

"Nothing happened… we ate together and then I went upstairs to Aerith's room while she stayed back to clean up. Oh, by the way thanks for waiting guys. Anyway I was sitting on the couch and that's where I fell asleep and when I woke up it was already morning… and that's the end of the story!" he said all that with a straight face in a monotone.

Both Yuffie and Eiko said together, "That's IT?"

"Yup, that's all folks. Why, was something suppose to happen?" Aerith added.

"I told you about black widows…" Eiko said disappointedly.

Leon cleared his throat and said in a strong stern voice, "And now it's our turn to ask the questions?"

"Oh no…" Eiko squeaked. "This could be bad…" Yuffie said to herself.

Aerith folded her hands and asked firmly, "So what exactly happen after I left?"

Before Yuffie or Eiko could come up with a good, believable and semi-logical answer and hotel's door fly open.

Everyone looked at the door and even before they could see who it was, they all knew the answer thanks to some sweet and melodic morning cursing from Cid. _Well at least that's what Cid thinks he does._

Cid barged in and ran up to Leon, Aerith to the dining table. He was breathing heavily and it was apparent that he had ran all the way. Leon observed his current condition and stood up immediately, "What is it Cid? The heartless?" Cid just shook his head, as he was still out of breath.

Aerith gave him a glass of water. Cid gulped down the water and took one beep breath before talking, "No, not the heartless, its heartfulls…"

"What?" Leon asked on everyone's behalf.

"Ya, we might have problem with too many hearts…" Cid said barely hanging on to the straw in his mouth. Everyone was thoroughly confused.

"What are you talking about Cid? You are making no sense" Leon said after taking a step towards Cid.

"Did you see today's news paper?" he asked.

"No, why?" asked Leon.

"You gotta see that…" Cid urged.

"Just tell me what's it's about…" Leon said trying to get to the point.

"Can't do, there is too much to explain. Here take a look at it" said Cid before pulling out the folded newspaper.

He was about to give it to Leon when Yuffie it snatched it away from his hands.

"Yuffie, give it to me" Leon demanded.

"No, I took it first from him, so I get to read it before you" Yuffie retorted.

"If Cid ran all the way just to show us something then it means that the information he has is really important. So stop playing around and give me the newspaper" Leon pointed out.

"Naaauuuuupppppp … first come first serve" she said childishly.

Leon and Yuffie continued their argument so Cid turned towards Aerith and said to her, "You see; there is a very interesting article on today's newspaper, featuring none other then, our very own Squall Leonhart AND our beloved Aerith Gainsborough.

"I am in today's newspaper? But why, I didn't do anything special?" she wondered.

Cid had a sly smirk on his face, '_Yes you did!_'

Aerith had a sinking feeling about this, 'I have a bad feeling about this…'

The battle of newspaper was going in full fledge, so Eiko decided to take matter into her own hands. She covered her ears with her hands and screamed as loud as she could. Leon and Yuffie stopped fighting and looked at Eiko. Cid and Aerith where also scrutinizing her. Eiko quickly snatched the newspaper from Yuffie's hands and opened it up.  
(Geee it must be a really good quality newspaper to survive through all that)

There was a big picture of Leon and Aerith together on the front page. Not that it was anything new for them, but the text beneath it was totally unexpected.

Well, to everyone in that room, the news where horrifying but Eiko had different views, "Awwwweeee how romantic…" she exclaimed.

Using her super ninja abilities, with the support of the table Yuffie jumped and landed swiftly on her chair next to Eiko. She hovered over Eiko to take a look at the newspaper. She looked at the picture and her immediate reaction was, "Coooool they covered 2/3 of the front page with just your big photo plus the headline read—"

Yuffie's eyes widened with shock/surprise/excitement/horror who knows! _Its Yuffie we are talking about, even she didn't know what was going through her brain. _Before she could even speak a word she fell off the chair in slow motion (In anime style) and she said, "Impossible" before the impact.

She landed hard on the ground and few birdies and stars could be seen revolving around her head.

Leon folded his hands, '_I wonder what it is. If something could knock Yuffie off of her chair then it must be big._'

Since Aerith was nearest to the scene she mustered all her strength and went up next to check out THE news. Aerith looked at the picture and smiled initially but when she saw what was written beneath it she was barely to speak a sentence before covering her mouth, "This can't be happening…"

'_Here goes nothing_' Leon prepared himself mentally for some bad news. Leon walked across the table and sat next to Eiko to take a look at it.

Leon saw it and blinked… … … … … blink blink… … … … blink … … … blink blink… … blink … blink

Leon squinted his eyes and repeated the same process.

After blinking few more times in pure disbelief he finally looked as Aerith.

The headline reads "Fairy tales do come true." Beneath it was a big picture of Leon and Aerith. Following the picture there was text which says in big bold letter, "Leon weds Aerith"

* * *

****

So how was it? Like it? Love it? Hate it?Please let me know in a review, I'd be waiting...


	5. Episode 5 Unwanted Gifts

_**Special Thanks**_ to Moronic Irony for being my editor... also special thanks to Jack-e for dragging Moronic Irony into this... :D  
So folks, if you see some major quality change from now on, then you know who should get credit for it.

**

* * *

**

**! Unwanted Gifts !**

* * *

Leon clenched his fist tightly as he said softly at first, "This is not happening…" Frustration was evident in his voice, "This can't be happening…" Leon punched the floor in rage. The entire room was silent. There isn't much you can do with an angry lion. 

"All this is his fault. That good for nothing son of a ..." The venom in his words dripped out, dangerous and lethal.

Without saying another word Leon walked towards the exit, roughly grabbing his gunblade on his way out. They knew who Leon was referring to, but none dared to move from their spot, none had the voice to speak.

As soon as Leon was out of the sight Cid yelled out hysterically, "People, get back to work!" Saying that Cid ran up to the desk and dialed a number. He was trying to reach the chancellor; Cid wanted to warn him about the upcoming squall and he meant both literary and figuratively. It was the only thing he could do for now.

Aerith ran upstairs to get her medical kit just in case she had to visit the hospital in an emergency. Yuffie finally regains her sense from what happened. All the while Eiko ...well there wasn't much to worry about her. She was lost in her own world, reading the newspaper.

"I didn't know that reading newspaper could be THIS fun!" she was obviously happy about it all. Everything was like a romantic story to her. Later on Yuffie joined in, her partner in crime. Both giggled and laughed, to infatuated with the article to notice the hazard around them.

Leon was walking calmly in the corridor of the school. Although his exterior seemed very calm there was a raging storm going on from the inside. He was ready to explode any minute. _Oh man Leon was a ticking time-bomb_.

He kicked opened the door to the chancellor's office and was immediately greeted by an annoying voice, "Excuse me don't you have any manners. You are suppose to knock before you enter. What if I was in middle of doing something private… oops I meant to say that what if I were in middle of doing something really important."

Leon just ignored the on going rant coming from the said voice and looked around the office, but found no trace of Sheppard. Leon retorted back, angered that the irritable man had escaped from his wrath, for now at least. "Where's Sheppard?"

The person who was sitting on Sheppard's chair replied in his annoying voice, "He's not here." Though hints of fear indicated through the man on Sheppard's desk.

Leon inquired further, "Then where is he?"

"Why should I tell you?" replied the stranger, it was obviously that the stranger was getting suspicious. Leon would have loved to explain why, but then again you don't say "_Oh I'm here to kill Sheppard, you're in my way so spill it or I will_" now really would that help him in any case? So instead Leon did the best thing close to it, he wasn't much in the mood to deal with the idiot any longer so he went up to the idiot sitting on Sheppard's chair and grabbed him by the collar, lifted him off the ground. _Go Leon!_

Leon questioned maliciously, "Who are you?"

"I-I'm the temp-temporary p-principle, Dr. Crawler" he stuttered out, though it only sounded like a squeaked...

"Where is Sheppard?"

Crawler replied back, muffling his words, "He is on leave…"

"For how long?"

Crawler was barely able to say, "For this semester."

He was gasping for air, because of Leon's hold (which was quite obvious because Crawler was hacking as well) Leon noticed this and let go of him reluctantly. The man before him was breathing heavily, thanking god that he wasn't dead.

Leon uttered softly, yet it was still threatening "lucky bastard."

Since Sheppard was not present, Leon had no business here anymore. So he turned around and was about to leave when Crawler called for him, "Umm … Leon. Chancellor Sheppard left a letter for you."

"So he knew I was coming." Leon said slowly, it was more directly towards himself then the other, but Crawler took it differently and gave him the letter. Leon opened the letter and began to read it:

_Dear Leon,_

_Hahahah the fact that you are reading this letter signifies that the joyous truth has came out at last. That also means that you are hunting for me now; so as a precaution I took a little vacation. But if you think that I broke the promise by leaking out the information about your wedding then guess again. I kept my end of the bargain. If I recall correctly, you said "Do what you have to do, but make sure not a single word about this whole admission ordeal should go out of this office…" but you didn't say anything about your wedding, did you? (A big smiley was drawn next to this sentence) So don't worry, the secret about Eiko is still a secret. Anyways being a great friend I am, I took the liberty to let the people of this town know about this auspicious event. Don't worry I'm not mad because you didn't invited me to your wedding, I am absolutely furious about it. (This time a smiley face with devil horns was next to it) I am pretty sure that there are a lot of people out there who would be mad at you for not inviting them; but don't you worry about a thing, because being such a great friend that I am, I took care of that too, be sure to check tomorrows newspaper, I have a surprise for you. I hope you like it. Enjoy your married life Leon…_

_You self-proclaimed best friend,  
Chancellor Sheppard._

Leon crumpled up the letter as his frustration knew no bounds; curses from many ranges came through the man's head as he glared at the paper. _If looks could kill..._

More thoughts jumbled through the man's head. None too pleasant. _'Just when I think that things are bad, they get worst. I don't know what he is gonna come up with in tomorrow's newspaper.'_ But he began to look on the bright side. _'No matter what it might be… one thing remains certain, Sheppard you are so dead.' _Or dark side.

Leon had nothing to do here, so he began his way towards the exit, but not before muttering a small apology towards the still gagging man.

With a nervous laughter Crawler replied back, "hahahaha don't worry about it Leon. Oh and that's Dr. Crawler to you mister." Emphasizing the word doctor.

Leon just turned around a bit and inquired, "What was that again?"

Panicking Crawler quickly fixed his mistake. "Ohhhaaaa nothing, nothing. I just said thanks for visiting."

His last words where "Whatever" before leaving..

Crawler relaxed and let out a long breath and slouching down in his chair.

* * *

Leon had barely stepped out of the school when he was zapped by _thunder_. For a moment Leon looked like a fried chicken. Even without looking at the person, Leon knew who it was. '_There is only one person who can cast a normal spell like Thunder with such a great power._' 

Leon asked a bit annoyed, "Merlin. What was that for?"

Merlin replied in his usual joyous way, "Yes my boy, you guessed it right, it's the one and only, Merlin. Oh and that was just my way of showing my feelings for not inviting me to your wedding."

Oh how Leon wanted to smack his head. _'Oh please, give me a break!'_

"What a nice way to show your feeling, I wish I could do the same." Sarcasm dripped in Leon's words making Merlin shake his head in utter disbelief before speaking once more.

"Don't try to get off-topic now."

"…"

Merlin continued, "I think you at least owe me the explanation for not inviting me to your wedding?"

Leon defended by saying, "Even **I** wasn't invited to my own wedding!"

Merlin laughed at this comment. Leon calmed down a bit, regaining his monotone voice. "Look Merlin, things are not what then seem to be."

Sadly but true Merlin ignored Leon's words and said, "Oh my, I totally forgot about it! I gotta go somewhere really quick, but don't worry I'll be back soon and then you can explain me why I wasn't invited."

"So till then…" Merlin disappeared like lightning and because of that Leon was zapped by another thunder. Even before he could react, or say a word, Merlin was already gone leaving dust behind.

"Great…" whispered Leon.

Leon was about to stand up when he was zapped again. Merlin appeared out of nowhere and said excitedly, "Oh congratulations, by the way. I still have to go meet Aerith."

Leon was about to say something but he was struck by yet another thunder. Just like before Merlin disappeared leaving behind a cloud of dust.

"Just freaking great!"

* * *

Leon was walking back towards the hotel, hoping to get some peace there. On his way back he was greeted by many 'funny looks' from the passersby, but like always he just ignored them and carried on. His anti-social nature prevented people from coming to congratulate him, which was a good thing for Leon. _'It's a good thing that people are a bit scared of me or else these people would drive me nuts.'_ His thoughts where interrupted when someone tugged on his sleeves. He looked down to find a boy with a candy in one hand. 

A little boy around the age of 5 spoke up, his voice was sweet innocent. "Mr. Leon… congwagulation" (of course the boy couldn't pronounce the word congratulation, but that was close enough)

Without saying another word the boy ran away. Leon stood there for a moment dumbfounded, "even KIDS know about it!"

Shaking his head and decided not to think about it anymore. The hotel was in sight now. Even though it was out of his normal routine Leon had already decided to take a nap as soon as possible. Then again like always, just when Leon thought that things could not get any worst… it did .Leon was less then a bock away from the hotel when he saw a whole mob standing in front of the hotel.

'_Aw hell no!'_

Leon made a 180 degree turn and sprinted towards the only location which would provide him with some much needed isolation. The one and only; underground cavern.

* * *

Aerith on the other hand was not so lucky; as she had to deal with everyone who came to visit them, which includes those annoying reporters and their million questions. She tried her best to avoid the reporters, but she couldn't refuse to meet normal people of the town. That just goes against her nature. _'After all they just want to wish me luck. They took some time off from their busy schedule just to come here and say congratulations. It would be rude if I don't meet them' _Since Leon was not known for his social skills it was natural that people came to visit and congratulate Aerith instead. Thus she met everyone who came to visit her. 

Out of all of them one person who was THE busiest was Yuffie. Many people had brought gifts from them as a sign of gratitude. After all, they were the protectors of the town. It was because of Leon, Aerith, Cid and Yuffie that every one was able to enjoy their daily life without any fear. There wasn't even a single person who wasn't helped by Aerith. There wasn't a single person whose life wasn't touched by Leon. Town's people respected these two individuals more than anything else.

This town might have perished a long time ago if it weren't for Leon and his team. There was no way anyone could repay them for all their favors, so everyone who visited them brought a gift as a token of gratitude.

* * *

Leon was sitting on the cobblestone floor in his usual posture, cursing his bad luck. _'What have I gotten myself into? I was perfectly happy by fighting against the heartless, but now this…Now the entire town knows about our so-called "wedding" and the ironic thing was that it never actually happened.' _More thoughts arise in the man's turmoiled mind. '_It was bad enough to have a wife and a daughter on paper; but now our lies have come out in public. So now we would have to actually live like a family in the front of the public. I would have to pretend that Eiko is my daughter but to pretend Aerith as my wife? That's just wrong…_' He had to suppress a shudder from the thought. Whether it was from the pleasuring thought of Aerith in apron only or the engrossing thought that he was married, period. '_Squall Leonhart with a family! ...now that's scary…This is just too much… What did I EVER do to deserve THIS?'

* * *

_

Meanwhile Aerith was having a really hard time trying to dodge all the common questions. '_As soon as Leon comes back we need to sit and figure out the exact detail of this 'wedding' I just can't do it on my own.'_

Looking into the sky she sighed, only one thing stayed in her mind. '_Oh Leon, where are you when I need you the most?'_

Leon was leaning against the wall with his head resting on his knee. '_Even KIDS knows that I am married… talk about bad publicity…Good thing that I didn't go the hotel or else I would have been swarmed by those people and their questions' _Leon remembered something and his suddenly looked up.

'_Aerith!'_

Leon stood up hurriedly and made his way towards the hotel.

Aerith was being bombarded by questions as people seemed to be really interested in their love story. One reporter even said that he was hurt and need immediate healing, but once he came inside he started asking all the question about their wedding to Aerith, only to get kicked out by Cid. Aerith thought that she would never do it, but by looking at the mob outside she silently prayed.

'_Where are the heartless when you need them?'_

Just one single heartless would be more then enough to cause panic among people. She was talking with someone and looking out of the window simultaneously as the people outside started disappearing from the sight at very quick rate.

Aerith looked upwards as if addressing the god and said, "Woah! I didn't know that you where going to hear my prayers so soon. But I'm not gonna complain." _Wait...where was the heartless?_

Looking out of the window once again, she wondered. '_What could have cause that?'_

Much to be true Aerith's prayers had been answered through a certain 'Heartless' one by the name of Leon. Many had left seeing the man near-by, but stubborn, or more like it idiotic reporters stayed.

Leon was barely few steps away from the door when a reporter asked him, "Mr. Leon when did you get married to Ms. Aerith?"

Leon gave him his typical look and asked him a question instead, "Did I ever come to your house and ask you when you got married?" Leon's dangerous tone and his answer were more then enough to scare away few reporters.

One more reporter asked him, "How long have you been in love with Aerith?"

Leon retorted venomously, "It's none of your damn business."

That did the trick as no one else dared to ask anymore questions. They scattered away one by one.

Leon was about to enter his room when he heard lots of noise coming from the next room, Aerith's room. Leon changed his mind and opened the door of the red room instead. The room which was filled with noise just a few seconds ago went dead silent. Leon entered the room and was greeted by a pin drop silence and just like before, people started filling out one by one leaving only Leon, Aerith, Yuffie, Eiko and Cid.

Aerith released a long breath and it was clearly evident that she was totally exhausted.

Eiko was the first one to speak up, "That was fun!"

Cid retorted, "Fun? Gimme a break; that was like hell."

Yuffie concurred with Cid, "I hate to say this, but the old man is right."

Cid snapped, "Who you calling old man, you brat!"

Yuffie said lazily, "Whatever old man, I am not in a fighting mood right now."

Leon turned his gaze towards Aerith and asked, "Are you okay Aerith?"

Aerith just nodded in response. Eiko said dreamily, "How romantic…"

"What?" asked Leon.

"Everything is romantic to this brat" replied Cid.

"You've asked for it…" said Eiko threateningly.

Leon snapped at this childish behavior, "Enough!"

Leon was about to say something when Yuffie placed a piece of paper in his hand. Leon inquired, "What is this?"

Yuffie replied innocently, "A piece of paper."

Leon rolled his eyes and said, "I know, but why are you giving it me?"

"Why don't you read it first and then ask all the questions" Leon opened the letter, missing the devious grin coming from the ninja and started reading it:

_To my dearest Squall,_

_I Yuffie Kisaragi, here by resign from my post as 'The Procter of the Town". Like it or not but this is my resignation letter. Because of my deteriorating health and my old age I can't fight anymore. My fragile body needs some rest plus my ever increasing age is a big concern._

_It was a tough decision but I had to take it, I had no other choice. (She also drew a smiley face with tears.)I hope you (my friends) and the heartless (my enemies) would understand and forgive me for this…_

_Yours truly,  
The great ninja, Yuffie_.

"What the hell?" said Leon with confusion. He looked up from the letter and looked at Yuffie.

"What's all this about?" he asked.

"It's my resignation letter" replied Yuffie sweetly.

This got a mix reaction from the surrounding people as some of them where thoroughly confused while some of them where shocked.

"What?" asked Aerith in her soft voice.

"Yup, I resign because I see no point in working now."

"Why?" asked Leon in his usual monotone.

"Ohmygawd have you seen our room? It's full with gifts! The declaration of your wedding was a mega blockbuster! Thanks to that, we have earned/gained enough stuff that I wouldn't have to work for at least next two years!" said Yuffie excitedly, in just one breath.

Leon just put his hand on his forehead and shook his head in his trademark style.

"I wish we could have your wedding over and over again" after saying that Yuffie jumped up and punched the air.

Leon on the other hand took that piece of paper and tore it into pieces. Yuffie looked at it in horror.

"Lets get back to work, shall we?" asked Leon as if nothing had ever happened. "I encounter few heartless near the entrance of the third district" informed Leon.

Leon pulled out his trusted gunblade and looked at Yuffie. Yuffie pulled out her Conformer disappointingly. _'Poor me… even my resignation got rejected, how sad is that?'_

Yuffie looked on her side to Leon, but he was already at the door, waiting for her. Yuffie walked towards the door but she suddenly turned around and said with a usual grin on her face, "Don't worry Aerith, I'll take good care of your husband."

"Stop referring me as Aerith's husband"

"Aren't you going to say anything to your husband Mrs. Leonhart?" inquired Eiko.

"Stop referring Aerith as my wife!"

Annoying Leon was Yuffie's hobby and Eiko had picked up that too. Even Cid decided to join the part, "Awe come on Leon you can't do that your wife."

"You are NOT helping Cid!"

He had barely finished his line when he heard Merlin's voice, "Is Mrs. Leonhart home?" adding

further to his frustration.

Everyone in the room got a laugh out of this. Leon looked at Merlin and then at the people in the room and said, "For the last time stop referring Aerith as my wife!"

Merlin just laughed at it and said, "Oh you young people are amazing, you guys just got married and you are fighting already? Why don't you calm down a bit?"

Leon was about to say something when Aerith said, "He's right… honey…"

He groaned _'Not you too!' _before a frustrated growl came out of his mouth as he stomped through the hallway of the hotel. Everyone was laughing except Merlin since he had no idea of the event that took place earlier.

Yuffie said with grin, "I told you that annoying Leon is fun."

Eiko agreed. Even though Aerith would not say it to anyone she too enjoyed teasing Leon.

"I just feel sorry for poor heartless" said Cid with a straw in his mouth.

"Why would you feel sorry for a heartless?" asked Merlin.

"When a pissed off Leon is chasing you with a gunblade, then you gotta feel sorry for them."

"Hey guys I'd better be on my way or else you would have feel sorry for me too" said Yuffie waving a goodbye.

Everyone waved goodbye to Yuffie.

"Why do I have a feeling that I'm missing something here" asked Merlin looking at Cid and Aerith.

"Listen up Merlin, you got lot of catching up to do…" said Cid with a straw in his mouth.

* * *

Yuffie entered the third district and found bunch of Munny scattered on the ground. Her eyes naturally lit up. Then she saw a lone swordsman slashing and hacking through anything which was in range. Yuffie engaged herself in Munny collection while Leon on the other hand was dissimulating heartless faster then anyone could count. He was taking all his frustration out on the heartless. For every heartless he took out, few more appeared to take their place, but it made no difference to Leon. 

The heartless came and the heartless were gone, it was as simple as that. Yuffie had finished collecting all the scattered Munny so she wondered, "What next?"

'_hmm… it's too dangerous to collect Munny when heartless are re-appearing rapidly. It's too dangerous to fight next to Leon, what if he slashes me in mistake?' _She then imagined a gross view of her body sprawled in pool of her own blood. _'Ewweee, I guess I'll just wait here and kill any heartless which gets past Leon.'_ Yuffie was at some distance behind Leon so she can take care of any heartless which gets past him. But so far no heartless had managed that deed, adding more boredom for Yuffie. This procedure went on for while, Leon slashing anything in his sight while Yuffie waiting for any heartless to pass by Leon. After 15 minutes or so, she got so bored that she fell asleep on the hard floor. After almost an hour the heartless stopped re-appearing, much to Leon's dismay.

"Where are the damn heartless's when I need them" complained Leon. He was killing those heartless like a heartless killing machine, absolutely heartlessly.

It must have been more then an hour now and Leon was a bit exhausted. It looked as if the heartless had retreated as no news popped out. Even the heartless knows not to come out when Lion was furious and hungry.

Leon waited for few more minutes, but no heartless came out. He then collected all the Munny orbs they left behind. He was much more relaxed now since he took out all of his frustration on the heartless. Unfortunately for him his peaceful state of mind went haywire when he saw Yuffie sleeping on the floor.

He rolled his eyes and said to himself, "Just leave to Yuffie to sleep on the battlefield"

Taking a step closer to the sleeping girl he took a deep breath.

"YUFFIE!"

Yuffie pulled her Conformer closer and took an attacking stance in an instance and asked "Where are the heartless? Where!"

Leon just gave her a typical 'Leon look' while Yuffie replied with her trademark 'Yuffie grin'

"Sorry, I guess I dozed off a bit." she said softly, scratching her head.

"Dozing off on a battlefield, are you crazy?" yelled frustrated Leon.

Yuffie opened her mouth to answer it but Leon cut her off "Don't bother, I know the answer already. I shouldn't even have asked that question"

Yuffie said with her hand on her hips. "Hey when Lions protect a shinobi then shinobis rest. Didn't your grandma teach you anything?"

"What if something had happened to you, you idiot?" concern was obvious in the voice of Mr. Monotone.

Yuffie smiled slyly, '_he is obviously concerned_.' Yuffie said with a grin, "With Squall by my side,

what can happen to me?"

"It's Leon" said Leon.

"Whatever" replied Yuffie

"Hey that's my line" said Leon a bit playfully.

Yuffie started grinning as always and even Leon had a microscopic smile on his face.

Only Yuffie had seen his softer side, a side which was well hidden from everyone else. The expression on Leon's face suddenly changed to a serious one.

"Yuffie, it's about time you start to stand up on your own feet. You would have to learn to live without me because I won't be with you all the time" a tinge of hurt was evident in his voice, it was as if he didn't wanted to say it, but he almost forced himself to say that. Leon closed his eyes and continued, "Life has no guaranties, it can end at anytime. Especially when you live in battlefield, chances are one day you might not return…"

Leon opened his eyes and said sternly, "if that happens, promise me that you'll --" Yuffie placed her hand on Leon's mouth.

"Don't you ever say that…" said Yuffie angrily.

"When you fight, you fight to win…. That's the first thing you taught me" reminded Yuffie.

"Yes that's right. I am sorry I shouldn't have said all that stuff" admitted Leon.

"You are the best fighter I know, how can you even think about it?" asked Yuffie.

"I've never doubted my abilities in battlefield. I don't know why I said that. Its like I keep on having that strange feeling; that something bad is about happen" said Leon.

"Enough of this depressing talking Squall" said Yuffie with a grin, trying to cheer him up.

"Yeah I guess you're right, I cant waste my time thinking about 'what ifs'" said Leon gripping his gunblade.

"Yup" replied Yuffie, agreeing with Leon.

"Whatever happens, happens…" said Leon waving his hand.

"Yes that's the spirit!" encouraged Yuffie. Leon ruffled her hair like he use to when Yuffie was small.

"Hey! Watch the hair!".

"Come on lets go home" said Leon regaining his monotone. They both made their way out of the third district and headed towards their so called 'home'.

* * *

**Somewhere far away…**

A blond swordsman slashed a heartless into two effortlessly. Someone who was observing him from some distance and his eyes lit up in excitement when he saw that amazing display of power.

"Yes! This could be the one I am looking for" cried out the god of the underworld.

* * *

This was by far the longest chapter of the story, I hope everyone likes it.  
Moronic Irony has been a great great help... kudos! 

_Please let me know what you would like to see next in this story..._

**_So what do you say about it? Like it? Love it? Hate it? Just let me know in a review._**


	6. Episode 6 The Letter Game

**

* * *

**

! The Letter Game !

* * *

Leon and Yuffie returned back to the hotel. Leon entered first followed by Yuffie. She went upstairs to get changed while Leon observed the scene in front of him for a moment. 

Cid, Aerith, Eiko and Merlin had already started discussion the details about Leon and Aerith's so called 'wedding'.

Exhausted physically and mentally he needed some rest, he was in no mood to fantasies his wedding. To achieve a feat like that he needed to be alone. Leon just stood there at some distance staring at them blankly.

The people around the table were really engrossed in talking about the so-called wedding. His observation was suddenly disrupted when Yuffie pushed him out of the way and joined the crew.

He too follow, but for a different reason. He went up to the crew and announced jadedly, "I am really tired so I'll take a nap."

Without waiting for any sort of response he left.

Everything went quite for a moment as Leon's announcement was a surprise to them.

"Did I freakin' hear him right?" inquired Cid.

Yuffie nodded in response after she came out of her stupor.

"Are you sure that's Leon and not some imposter?" said Merlin, "Because the Leon I know never breaks his routine" he added.

"Give him a break; he must be really tired" she argued defending her partner.

"So how did it go today?" asked Aerith coming from the kitchen.

"It was cool. I collected loads of munny" Yuffie said with a grin.

"Oh I just love it when your husband is furious…" Yuffie added giggling

Aerith sighed a bit because people around her constantly kept referring him as her husband and treated them as an ACTUAL couple. Aerith knew they were having fun so she decided to play along, besides she was not the one to complain.

'_If they enjoy teasing me, then let them enjoy it_' she thought optimistically.

"Any injuries?" Aerith asked with a concern.

Yuffie jumped up on her chair and spun around with one leg childishly and replied, "See I am fine."

"But your husband might need some help…" she said pointing at Leon's direction.

"Is he hurt?"

"I am not telling" Yuffie joked teasingly.

"Oh come on" Aerith couldn't help but whine at Yuffie's remarks. She knew that she had no other option left and seeing Leon right now didn't sound very pleasing to her mind. Of course that would be a lie because she wanted to see Leon…was it because of her duties as a healer or was it because she was overly concern about him?...she didn't know, nor did she want to know…(yet)

"Why don't ya go an check on the big guy yourself!"

Aerith sighed once more knowing that she had lost the battle. Part of her already knew Leon was alright and had no injuries; she had to go confirm it herself, after all this was Aerith.

"Ok fine…I'll go ask him myself" said Aerith a bit grudgingly, before leaving the crew behind.

"Ohhhh….how romantic!" Eiko said dreamily clasping her hands.

"Ya know, sometimes I wish I could chew that freakin' loud brat instead of this damn straw" Cid muttered quietly to Merlin after picking out the straw from his mouth.

"Hey what was that" Eiko said staring at Cid suspiciously.

"Oh nothing… just askin' Merlin if he has a girlfriend, you know old geezers an' all." Cid replied dodging the question. Merlin who had been drinking water suddenly chocked, then coughed when he heard Cid's ludicrous statement.

Yuffie turned her head around and made sure that Aerith was completely out of sight now. "Yo guys, something's up"

Cid just raised his eyebrow while Eiko and Merlin looked at Yuffie waiting for some more nonsense to come out of the she-nin's blabbering mouth. She continued, silently glad that she had caught their attention. " Leon…he's…he's very depressed by this whole wedding ordeal."

"Wow, news to me." Cid retorted sarcastically and leaned back in his chair.

"And here I thought that you were going to tell us something new" commented Eiko with a sigh.

"Right… Leon was always depressed, so we should be worried about him if he's happy instead." added the wise Merlin.

Yuffie argued "No guys its not like that…he's--" but her sentence was cut off by Cid, "Oh don't worry about him…he is strong guy, he's been through hell and back. He can fudgin' handle anything, I think all he needs right now is some time alone, that's all"

Yuffie slouched back in her chair admitting defeat. "Yeah I guess you're right."

'_May be I am a bit too worried about him_' she thought to herself.

"Anyway so lets continue" Eiko said cheerfully.

"Continue what?"

"Continue the discussion we were having before you guys interrupted" replied Cid.

"What were you guys discussing?"

"We were discussion about Leon and Aerith's wedding. We do need to come up with a decent story to tell the public you know" Merlin butt-in with his so-called wiseness.

"Oh wow!" Yuffie perked up a bit, "now that's what I call interesting I say we go with my original idea! Ninjas kidnapped them and made them prisoners then they worked together and fell in love!"

"Frig Yuffie you dumb brat who the hell is gonna believe THAT!"

"Kidnapping LEON? Now that just dumb" Eiko supported Cid.

Yuffie ignored Eiko and focused on Cid, "Duh Cid, you old fart! Ninjas are EVERYWHERE nowadays! Come on keep up with the times we're not in preastoric times!"

"Prehistoric Yuffie"

"Shut up Merlin."

* * *

After entering his room the first thing Leon did was to write a note and keep it in Yuffie's drawer where she hid her Conformer. Leon then sat on his bed tiredly holding his head in his hands. It had been almost 9 years since their homeland was consumed by darkness. Since the past 9 years he had nightmares about it every night. The same nightmare, the same pain, the same agony, the same wounds, the same vision, the same scars were still fresh in his mind. 

The day when everything changed…Since then there wasn't a single night in his life when he didn't had that same nightmare. His painful past still haunted him. Everyday he works himself out, just so that he would be able to sleep peacefully. Everyday he wakes up hoping that the one day his torment would end. Everyday he pushed himself to the limits hoping that someday his physical pain will exceed his mental agony and his body would just give in. '_I wish I can sleep peacefully just this once_' he thought before collapsing on the bed.

Someone knocked on the door causing Leon to look up immediately. He wasn't in mood for any conversations nor was he willing to give up his sleep for anyone, so he quickly shut his eyes.

'_Maybe they'll leave me be if I pretend to sleep, god knows I need it._'

Aerith poked her head inside and found Leon sleeping on the bed. She slowly entered the room cautious not to wake the man up. As soon as the door was shut Leon immediately knew who it was. The fact that the door was closed and not slammed was more then enough to tell him that it was Aerith. '_What is she doing here?_' he wondered.

Aerith looked around a bit and then walked over to Leon. She observed him for a minute or so, before sitting next to him. Knowing that he was asleep she put enough courage to gently take his hand in her own.

The code red signal cast off in his head like a mantra that would never stop. '_Wake up before it's too late you freaking moron_'

Then the woman holding his hand did the unexpected, she… she… she cast Curaga on his hand. Leon's raging mind was finally at ease knowing that she was just here to heal him and NOT for something else. (Haha dirty perv...)

Aerith slowly stood up and observed him for a bit longer. She had no clue why she would always observe him, but she was doing that quite often now. Walking towards the end of the bed where Leon's feet were, she took of his shoes off and then grabbed a blanket and covered him with it.

'_Typical Aerith_' And then sleep overcame him.

It was a ritual nowadays to turn the street lights on during the time around six. Closing the blinds and shutting the open windows. After all darkness was never a safety to people in Traverse town.

She looked around a bit and concluded '_that should do it_' finally turning off the lights she walked out of the door and as always closed it gently not to disturbed the sleep.

* * *

Aerith walked downstairs and joined the crew. The chattering slowly stopped when she joined. 

"So did you give a goodnight kiss to your husband?" Eiko asked excitedly.

"Eiko, he's my husband just on paper, okay? So please stop treating us like we are actually married" she said finally getting a bit frustrated with all this.

"Sure, whatever" said Yuffie waving it off.

"Hey Aerith, we came up with an awesome idea regarding your wedding story" Cid sounded grouchy, but eagerness was hidden behind those words.

'_Not again…_' she sighed.

Even though she didn't want to hear it, she had no other option. Merlin, Cid, Yuffie and Eiko had made more the decent outline of their wedding. No ninjas and kidnapping of course.

Initially Aerith just wanted them to stop talking about it, but gradually she too started giving her own inputs. After an hour or so, Aerith and the crew came up a really good and believable story for their fake wedding and non-existent love story. Everyone seemed really exited thinking and fantasizing all the possibilities about the wedding and by everyone I mean Aerith too. After all it was her wedding they were discussing.

Absence of Leon did not stop Aerith from fantasizing their wedding. During the discussion many new and unique ideas 'of how to annoy/torture Leon' came up, adding more to everyone's amusement, especially for Yuffie and Eiko. It was around 7:30 so Aerith excused herself from the discussion and started preparing for their dinner.

It was around 9 as everyone took their honorary throne on the dining table so now they were missing just one person, Mr. Leon, but the main question was who should go to wake up the sleeping Lion. Yuffie had found some of her missing shuriken from beneath the dining table so she volunteered since she had to go keep it in her room anyway.

Yuffie entered the room with a devilish grin. She was planning to literary jump on Leon. She would have made a dash for it if it weren't for those shuriken in her hand. So she decided to put that away and THEN jump on Leon, like she use to when she was little.

She opened her drawer and was about to place her shuriken in it when she noticed a letter. She took out the letter and placed shuriken in her drawer before shutting it. Yuffie opened the letter obviously curious. '_Who will write ME a letter?_' she wondered.

So the first thing she did after opening the letter was to look for the name who wrote it and not the contents of the letter. She almost dropped the piece of paper in her hands when she saw that it was from Leon. '_Oh god! I never imagined that Leon would write ME a lover letter so soon_' she thought dreamily with a grin. She shook her head to rid of all the dreamy thoughts coming back to reality. She looked at the letter and started reading it…

**_Yuffie, please wake me up at sharp 9pm, I have few very important things to do…sorry but I can't tell you more then that because it's a secret. _**

**_- Leon _**

She was furious after reading it. '_Keeping secrets from ME…That's it mister, if you don't want to tell me what you're going to do then I am not gonna wake you up pal_' She raised her arms to throw away the blasted letter, but she stopped in a mid way and a devilish grin appeared on her face once more. An idea popped into her head and her grin widened, '_This is the perfect opportunity for me to annoy Squally._' And the background lightening was inserted.

'_So you want to write letters huh? Okay then, two can play that game_' she thought with an evil grin never leaving her face. She placed the note on the table and took a pen lying around there. Flipping the letter she started writing it on the back side of it…

Yuffie looked at her letter and seemed very satisfied with it, "Short and sweet and to the point" she said in a sing song way. She then walked up to the bed and placed her letter next to Leon's gunblade. Happy with her prank she then skipped out of the room gleefully.

When Yuffie went downstairs she was greeted by an oh-so obvious question, "Where's Leon?"

"Still sleeping" she replied.

"I thought that you went to wake him up" said Merlin.

"That I did"

"And?" asked Aerith knowing the notorious relation Yuffie has with Leon she could judge that something might be wrong

Yuffie scratched her chin trying to be thoughtful, '_Damn, I should have thought about that part._'

Awkward silence filled the room as moments passed by as Yuffie continued racking through her brain to answer Aerith's question. Cid coughed spuriously trying to get Yuffie attention. Yuffie looked at him and Cid repaired the question with a raised eyebrow, "And?"

"Oh and…he said that…he… he would eat later because he wants to sleep some more" she said after shrugging her shoulders. She tried her best to act as if nothing suspicious was going on.

"Okay then, lets eat" Eiko announced cheerfully.

Everyone grabbed their plates and helped themselves. Correction…everyone but Aerith. She knew that if she did not eat with them then she would instantly become the topic of their mimicry, but that was least of her concern right now. Once Leon wakes up she needed to talk with him and figure out the details of the wedding before anyone of them screws up in public - besides she wasn't feeling very hungry either. So she kept her plate back and stood up.

"Hey why aren't ya eating?" asked Cid.

"I am not hungry right now."

"Oh you don't have to be so shy around us you know, just say it that you are waiting for your husband?" Eiko commented giggling emphasizing the word husband.

"Its nothing like that" Aerith defended herself, she was getting tired of it too soon.

"Ya ya wha'efu 'ou thay Aer." said Yuffie while chewing. Aerith knew that there would be teases aiming at her direction about this for the next two days but she honestly didn't want to eat so she excused herself.

After eating and cleaning everything up everyone started disappearing one by one. Cid went back to his shop/home. Merlin disappeared to wherever he came from.

Eiko went to her official room, i.e. Aerith's room to go to sleep while Yuffie had just left to do the same, leaving Aerith all by herself. '_Leon never sleeps this much, he should be waking up soon so I think I should just wait here since Yuffie said the he would eat later, he would definitely come here_' Aerith thought. '_But what shall I do until the Squall shows up?_'

'_Cloud_' A small conscious spoke up from the back of her head. The name itself was strong enough to bring tears into her eyes. Aerith shook her head and said determinedly, "No sad thoughts right now."

She stood from the dining table where she was sitting and went back to her room to grab a few papers. No later did she came back down stairs and sat back on the same chair placing the bunch of papers on the table. '_What better way to send some time then studying Ansem's reports_' with that she engaged herself.

* * *

Yuffie was twisting and turning in her bed. For once she was struggling to sleep because her entire body was acing from sleeping on the floor earlier. All she could do now was to curse at her dumbness, '_I should have never slept on that stupid floor_'. She turned once again and this time she was facing Squall. 

'_Damn why can't I sleep so peacefully like him…wait, I know why… because of him, its all his fault_' she concluded. '_Only if he weren't so damn frustrated on the battlefield, I would have fought too. But noooooo…. Mr-I-take-all-the-jokes-seriously had to take all our jokes/pranks/teasing seriously and get mad…he just had to do it…I am telling you its all his fault…Ohhhh Die Squall DIE! or...um... something like that, but less harsher yeah, less... but not too less!…urrrggghhh—_' her processing thoughts came to a screeching stop when the object of her scrutiny suddenly sat up.

She quickly covered her face with pillow and closed her eyes tight hoping that he would not know that she is awake. '_Oh my gawd! Its almost 10 o'clock…I was kinda hoping that he would wake up in the morning so I might be able to get away with my latest prank…but no…he had to wake up NOW…I am telling you its all his fault_' she silently complained.

On the other hand Squall had just bolted up from his sleep sweating frantically. He was breathing so heavily that even Yuffie who was pretending to be asleep could hear it clearly. He wiped the sweat from he forehead and looked around and let out a sigh of relief. Actually he was more then relieved to know that he was still in the same room, in same place and with the same people…

He swung his legs to the side of the bed and was now clutching his head. Yuffie lifted her pillow and peaked at Squall, she immediately knew what was wrong, '_the nightmare_'

It was a rare incident that Yuffie is awake when Squall wakes up. But she knew for a fact that he gets nightmares for every time he slept. Leon had talked more with Yuffie then everyone else combine. Even then, not once did he ever mention anything about his nightmares. He had shared many things with Yuffie, but he always kept the darkest chapter of his life to himself. Yuffie had tried to ask him many times about it, but he had always avoided that conversation.

He finally stood up and made his way to the window. He opened the blinds and gazed into the endless sky for few minutes. Yuffie was really curious to go up and say, "What the hell is going on?" but she knew that she couldn't do it.

Squall turned back and sat at the bed once again. He noticed a letter next to his gunblade and picked it up. He opened it and started reading it…

**_To my dearest Squally, _**

**_Its 9 o'clock, WAKE UP! _**

**_Yours truly, _**

**_-The great ninja Yuffie. _**

He read it and a smiled crewed up on his face immediately, he just couldn't help it. This girl had a knack to make him smile even when he was at the lowest point in life.

Being the genius that she was, she wrote a letter back to Leon informing that it was time for him to wake up, instead of actually waking him up. How is a sleeping person suppose to read a letter beats me. But what she did sort of makes sense since Yuffie never really wanted to wake him up and still get the job done.

On the other hand Squall wanted that too. He knew that Yuffie will do exactly opposite to what he says, and adding about that 'secret' was like adding fuel to the fire, so he asked her wake him up at 9. He was sure that Yuffie would NOT wake him up and as expected she did not. The plan was to sleep more without getting disturbed, too bad that Leon had no plans to get around the nightmare which he always ran into. The person next to Leon started mumbling something inside her pillow indicating that she was deep asleep now (Check Author's notes at the end of the chapter for more details about Leon's nightmare).

He knew that trying to sleep now would not work; it had never worked since last 9 years so it had no reason to work now. Leon sighed and stood up as his stomach roared like a hungry lion. He closed the blinds before exiting the room quietly.

* * *

Aerith tried her best not to let her mind wonder off, but she had not succeeded thus far, as her mind constantly kept on going back to one person, Cloud. '_Cloud…A boy who went on a journey to conquer his own darkness…A boy once I loved and still do…A boy who promised me that he will come back to me…A boy who went on a journey to regain the most important thing he had lost…his memories…_' 

She wondered what had become of the boy, now probably a man. She could just sit here and fantasize how he would look like, how he would talk, how he would act… She drifted into slumber thinking about him.

When Leon came down he found Aerith sleeping on the table, head tucked between her frail...delicate...smooth..er he meant arm...just arm, nothing else. Leon went close to her and thought about waking her up but, he stopped suddenly. He looked at Aerith's face and marks of tears were still very visible, even the paper she was sleeping on was quite wet, '_I wonder what made her cry?_'

After debating with himself for a few moments Leon finally decided not to wake her up, so instead he went closer to her and scoped her up with ease. Since Aerith was fast asleep he carried her to the Red room. Leon had noticed on his way up the door was opened, so he entered the room easily and placed her beside Eiko. After covering her with the blanket he quietly left the room. (You didn't expect him to stay there, did you?)

Leon went downstairs and helped himself with some food. Now sitting on the dining table with papers spread all around him. '_What better way to send some time then studying Ansem's reports_' he thought before engrossing himself into the reports.

* * *

**Olympus Coliseum**

"You see it's really simple…you defeat someone I want you to defeat and I'll give you anything you want?" said the lord of the underworld.

"Anything?" A blond man replied doubting the lord of the underworld aka. Hades.

"ANYTHING…" he paused before replying in a whispering, "even your lost memories"

The blond man known as Cloud widened his eyes in surprise. There was no need to say anything, just his reactions told the entire story.

"So what do you say?" asked Hades, by now he was getting impatient.

After thinking for a while he finally replied. "Deal"

* * *

Next day in the morning. 

A newspaper came crashing through the window of the accessory shop. We all know that by now Cid just cannot begin his day without reading the newspaper… Like usual Cid grabbed the folded news paper and opened it.

As soon as he saw a large picture of Leon and Aerith on the front page his straw automatically dropped from his mouth when he uttered, well more like screamed angrily. "HOLY!#$ what the hell is this guy scheming"

* * *

**A/N:** About Leon's nightmare, check out chapter 14 of my FFVIII fic called 'The 13th Order'. The kingdom hearts section of that chapter describes the beginning of his nightmare. But I am not going to reveal its ending, not just yet.

* * *

Sorry sorry sorry it took me forever to update, my sincere apologies. Three main reasons why it took me forever to update:  
1) My one-shot called "Difference between Dream and Reality!" It's about Yuna and a certain blond (Not Tidus). You are in for a surprise!  
2) Yet another one-shot called "Dark Sun or Shining Moon?" It's Leon x Aerith x Cloud once again. Like always, it has multiple ends!  
3) Something chewed up most of my time was my music video called, "Hidden Affection - A Tribute to Leon & Aerith" Like the name says, I took on a next to impossible task to come up with Leon x Aerith video with very limited clips available in the game.  
Check out the profile for more details. 

Anyway, after writing 4000+ words I think I can at least expect to get 1 percent of it back, right? So pay your taxes i.e. write a review!

**_So what do you say about this chapter? Like it? Love it? Hate it? I'd be waiting for your review, so don't disappoint me now._**


	7. Episode 7 Good Bad Morning Part I

**_A/N:_ **_I've edited all the chapters from 1 through 4 (which were in the script format earlier). So please take some time to read through them as I have modified / added few stuff in it. I hope you would enjoy it! Thanks! _

**

* * *

**

**! Good Bad-Morning !  
...**

Squall looked up from the report he was reading and it was around 5 am. He was studying it for the last several hours and his currant position was getting a tad bit uncomfortable now. So he decided to go early for some training, not like he had any choices considering it was: move and sweat or sit and get leg cramps. He collected all the scattered papers and no later a neat stack was sitting on the corner of the table, simple and clean. He grabbed his gunblade on his way out as he left for his usual spot.

* * *

Last we saw Cid, at the shop and was as usual getting his daily dose of news which so happen to be the key to all the problems arising. As the newspaper crash through his window again Cid couldn't help but silently curse Dewy, Donald's nephew. Did the kid have eye problems? Did the duck not know how much munny he pays every day because of the random swings the said-duck makes? For good-friggin' sakes with a swing like that the kid-duck could poke someone's eye out! 

Ironically he distinctly heard a cry not far from him.

"OW! My eye!"

Cid cringed as he picked up his newspaper gingerly, feeling sorry for whoever got hit by Dewy's newspapers. Opening the page up to the front section he read over some lines. Sports... Aerith...Heartless...Entertainment...Leon...oh why isn't that a lovely picture of Leon and Aerith, a lovely shot too! My whoever did-"HOLY SHI--ER COW!" How did someone get a picture like that! What's going on? After a couple of lines he knew whom did such a thing. What was he thinking! Scowling Cid ripped the poor unjustified newspaper into shreds. Getting up he stalked out of his shop. One name escaped his lips.

"Leon."

And then curses afterwards.

* * *

After completing his callous training Leon made his way to Merlin's home. During his trip there he couldn't help but sneeze, un-wavered by it he continue on pffft not like anyone was talking about him. 

Upon arriving there Leon was met with a cheerful wizard who could not stop talking on about...whatever he was talking about. After minutes of greetings both began discussing about Eiko's magical and summoning abilities, but it came to a halt as the said wizard wanted to examine the child personally. Thus causing Leon to leave and go back to the hotel to retrieve the child of discussion.

Once again Cid arrived at scene tad bit late. His cussing rant still on and alive, frustration overcame the ex-smoker and several curses flooded out of the his mouth that even made dirty sailors blush in embarrassment. Thank god Cid did not become an orator.

* * *

Someone snuggle close to Aerith and wrapped their arms around her, which immediately alerted her. She was accustomed to sleep alone so when she discovered that there was someone next to her, she bolted up from her bad. She look around and sighed in relief when she found that it was Eiko who was sleeping next to her and not someone named…umm…Leo--…umm…never mind…lets just say that she was relaxed to know that it was not some heartless sleeping next to her. 

A small shuddering bolted Aerith out of her small thoughts and directed her gaze towards the person that caused it. Adoration came across Aerith's mind as she wrapped a blanket around Eiko, who immediately ceased her small frame from shivering non-stop.

She then stood up from the bed and walked to the window. Aerith stretched a bit trying to get rid of early morning laziness. She opened the window for her morning ritual. Grabbing a bag of grain she sprinkled handful of grains to the birds outside and watched them peacefully as they chirp and eat. Her mind started drifting off…

Once again she was thinking about 'him' a guy with spiky hair. It had been seven years but Aerith remembered all the events like it just happened seven minutes ago. The first time he came to Traverse Town... Their first encounter... Their little quarrels... Little moments that brought them closer to each other... The joyous moments they shared together... Holding each other's hands through all the sorrows and joy... The truth... And finally his inevitable departure... All the bittersweet memories came rushing back to her... and even she did not realize when a pair of tears escaped from her eyes.

No matter how hard she tried, just a single thought of him alone was now more then enough to bring sorrow to her eyes. No matter how hard she tried to cover it up deep down inside there still remains a void which cannot be filled without that certain someone. Everyday she goes to sleep preying that someday he would return back to her and when she wakes up she prays 'let today be that day'. Her strong will and her faith had never wavered in all these years.

The only time her happiness of fades away is in the confinement of her room when she is alone. But things were changing now… with the addition of a new member to their family and the mess with Leon… She no longer had the privilege to be alone. She no longer had the right to be sad in the confinement of her room. She can no longer cry herself to sleep anymore…because a certain someone was always there watching her.

No sooner had her thoughts drifted to Leon; unknowingly a smile had crept up on her face. She wondered what new chapter life would open today.

Aerith finally getting hold of herself went to the green room as she had an upheaval task at hand…waking up the sleeping ninja. Aerith knew that shouting Yuffie's name in her ears was not good enough to wake up the great ninja. So she the first thing she did after entering the room was to turn on every single light possible in the room. Next she opened all the windows and the street light illuminated the room. She looked around at now bright, illuminated room and smiled at the job well done.

The best weapon to use against Yuffie's dreaded sleep is light, somehow that always does the trick. Aerith walked away smiling knowing that Yuffie would wake up soon because of the eye-sore brightness.

This light trick had worked wonders for quite some time now… and as expected Yuffie woke up after two minutes.

"Awe man, I can't sleep with all these stupid lights on" Yuffie whined in frustration. She stood up lazily and walked up to her drawer, it was really amusing how Yuffie would walk towards the drawer while hunching over, hissing and clawing at the brightness, like a vampire... or a super lazy brat. Opening the dark-oak drawer small pale hands clumsily groped around from something. A "score!" was heard and those pale hands retreated back with an object clutched in its grasp. Yawning Yuffie held the object outwards and held it over her eyes. Putting it on the room went darker and she went back to bed. Yuffie knew that even if she turned off all the lights, Aerith will just walk in and put them on again, so she her ingenious brain came up with an idea to counter the light.

'_Sleeping with sunglasses is the way to go baby_' she thought happily before drifting back to sleep.

After completing the morning rituals Aerith went downstairs to the kitchen complied by her daily routine. '_It's cooking time_' she thought happily. She started preparing for breakfast. It had been more then an hour yet there was no sign of Yuffie anywhere, although the footsteps of her partner in crime could be heard clearly.

"Goooooood Morning Aerith" Eiko greeted.

"Good morning dear" Aerith replied pleasantly.

Aerith was done cooking so now she was waiting for everyone else to show up.

Be it an early morning or mid afternoon or later evening, Eiko's mouth never stops. She was chattering on and on while Aerith listen to her actively.

Even though noise and light might have failed to wake up the sleeping ninja… food never did. As soon as the smell of her sugar-high, favorite dish entered Yuffie's nostril she bolted up from her bed and tripped her way to the bathroom, curses! Why was the room so dark now? Oh yes...the sunglasses. Taking them off she tried her best to dress up as fast as one, two, three. Within no time Yuffie was at the dining table with a fork in her hand ready to swallow anything which comes in her plate.

Eiko and Yuffie were eating happily and thinking sadly. They were thinking of a way to escape the Lion's wrath for missing second successive day in training. All three of them were thinking about Leon. Two of the busiest mouth in Traverse Town were busy devouring food. Everything seemed nice and peaceful for once. But like they say, every good thing must end.

The door of the hotel was slammed open and Mr. High-Whine--oops I mean Mr. Highwind barged into the door yelling the name of the person which all three were trying to avoid thinking about.

"Squuuuuuuuuuaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllllllll" Cid yelled at the top of his voice. "Leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeoooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnn where the hell are ya!" Cid yelled once again only to be accompanied by few dozens of cursed this time.

Yuffie jumped up from her seat and covered her ears to protect it from Cid's high pitched voice. Taking whatever ounce she had in her she barged up to the cursing man and silently used her index finger indicating something, reluctantly Cid complied by leaning forward ending his threats.

She pulled him close and as if she was about to tell him a secret. But instead of whispering, she took a deep breath and yelled loud enough to scare way all the heartless in one mile radius,

"HE AIN'T HERE GEEZERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"

Cid covered his ears for this painful agony. After Yuffie was done with her impressive reply, he looked at the ninja with no so good intentions, "Damn you Yuffie, what Fu -he paused minding his manners- ngus is (censored for young viewers) wrong with ya! You could have just (censored because you know why) tell me softly you freaking (censored)"

Enraged Aerith stood up and glared at Cid, "Cid!"

Cid immediately realized his mistake and apologized, "My (F-word has and will always be censored) bad."

This time both Aerith and Yuffie said in unison "CID!"

"Oops it just a helluva bad habit of mine. I'm damn sorry" he apologized in the most civilized way he could, mustering up the most sincere face.

Aerith, Yuffie and Eiko all sighed loudly.

Delirious Cid calmed down a bit and had finally moved in. He was now was sitting around the dining table. Everyone was about to go back to do what they were doing earlier when the door of the hotel was slammed opened once again. This time it was the name who they (Eiko and Yuffie) wanted avoid and the man who Aerith and Cid were waiting for.

Leon entered looking absolutely pissed. The look in his eyes gave jitters to Yuffie.

"Why?" Leon asked still looking at Yuffie.

"I…ummm…I…you know…I was…but…I…" Yuffie was clearly struggling.

Yuffie looked at Aerith, but she shook her head apologetically, she saved her yesterday but today it was a different story. Yuffie looked at Eiko but was meet with equally blank stare. '_Oh god, please help me_' she prayed.

Leon was still glowering at her, "Yes?" he snapped an eyebrow piqued in curiosity.

"Ohh forget that brat, you have more important things to worry about" Cid came to her rescue absolutely unintentionally. Cid pulled out a new and not ripped newspaper and showed it to Leon with everyone surrounded him. It was the same picture they had yesterday but the only difference was in the title. Where it said 'Fairy tales do come true' a day ago, today read the word 'REVENGE' written in bold.

'_Well well well…people of Traverse Town... don't you all feel betrayed and mad about not being invited to the wedding of Leon and Aerith? I know you all are also as furious as I am, so don't you think that we need to take our revenge? They can't get away with this. So how you suppose we take our revenge on them? I know how... check tomorrows newspaper and I'd reveal my master plan…hahahahahaha_'

"What the hell is this guy scheming now?" Leon said getting frustrated.

Even before anyone could say or do anything the door of the hotel was slammed opened…yet again and...

* * *

Lord of the underworld was sitting in his office with his legs outstretched on the table. He was reading the contract with a devilish grin. 

"Oh I just love mindless puppets, hahahahahahahahahaha! Now on to the next phase of my master plan," uttered Hades with an evil grin.

He was about to leave when he paused in the door way, "Wait a minute, what was his name again? Semeroth? Shemeoath? Or somethin' like that, right? Yeah I'm sure its She-me-oath the one winged angel… no the broken winged angel right? Yes, She-me-oath, the broken winged angel. No wait, it was... Urrrrghhhhh..." Hades walked out of his office utterly confused as his cool blue hair turned into burning red.

* * *

**_So how was it? Like it? Love it? Hate it? Please let me know in a review, I'd be waiting..._**


	8. Episode 8 Good Bad Morning Part II

Ta da… Surprise!  
I honestly wanted to continue this story but odds/circumstances were against me so I had to runoff like that. But finally things are settling down so I am back to finish off what I started earlier.

I really did not know that so many people were following this story. Based on the number of reviews I had I thought no one (baring few) would give a damn if I have to discontinue this story right now. But after receiving bunch of emails and few threats I have decided to continue this story as time permits. So enjoy!

* * *

**! Good Bad-Morning (Part 2)!  
...**

Even before anyone could say or do anything the door of the hotel was slammed opened…yet again and...

This time…it was the postman carrying two sacks full of letters. Since it was just too heavy for that scrawny guy, he dragged it through the door. Poor fellow was clearly out of breath so Aerith offered him a glass of water. He gulped it down in an instance and wiped his few droplets of water from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. He first thanked Aerith for the glass of water and then addressed to Leon, "Sorry Mr. Leon…but I couldn't fit all these mails in your mailbox…it looks like your mail box is too small" he said.

'_Oh wow, this guy must be a rocket scientist… he figured that two sacks of mail can't be shoved into a small mailbox, absolutely genius_' Leon thought sarcastically.

"You guys have got all these letters...so have fun reading them" the postman said with a smile. But much to his disappointment, Leon slammed his hand on his forehead and said with a sigh, "FUN! Give me a break."

But Yuffie was ecstatic to see so many mails, "All that! You gotta be kidding me!" she exclaimed.

"Impossible" added Eiko.

"What the (censored)" was Cid natural reaction, while Aerith was just speechless or wordless in this case.

The postman waved and ran out to the sight hurriedly. Yuffie and Eiko were the first one to react, as they literary jumped into the pile of letters/mails/cards.

Fifteen minutes must have passed by now and everyone but Leon were busy reading the letters. Leon was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed unfazed by everything around him. Everyone were reading letters with different intentions, like Eiko was just looking for some of those 'romantic' letters, while Yuffie was hoping to get new ideas to annoy/tease Squall. Cid had nothing better to do so join in as well. But the one person who was affected by it the most was Aerith as she was in complete awe…  
'_All these letters for ME and Leon…this… this is amazing_.'

Everyone who couldn't approach them directly or for those who were just too afraid to face the untamed lion had written them letters instead. Congratulating them and wishing them good luck on their new journey together. "Hey Squally don't you want to read these letters? After all they are for YOU and YOUR wife" Yuffie said teasingly. "I think I'll pass" Leon replied in a monotone. "Meanie" Yuffie said and pouted. Leon waved if off with his trademark, "Whatever".

"I think you should at least read them Leon, it's not like you have to reply them or anything. All these letters just shows us how much people of this town care for our wellbeing. It would be harsh if you just discard them even without reading it." Aerith said trying to convince him.

'_What does she want me to do? Read it and feel guilty for lying to them? I am sorry but I can't do it_'

"Sorry, still not interested" he replied in his regular monotone. Aerith frowned a bit but decided to ignore it because once Leon makes his mind it's next to impossible to change it. So everyone ignore Leon and continued their reading. Aerith occasionally passed on some good letters to Leon to read.

(After twenty minutes)  
'_All these cards, letters and gifts wishing me good luck on my wedding… I must be the luckiest women on this planet_' she thought still in awe but suddenly her smile disappeared, '_No, this is wrong I am lying to everyone in TT… I do not deserve this… we are not even married… so what if I lied for a good reason; it's still a lie… we've fooled so many people and yet they are wishing for our happy married life…All this… is just wrong_' now she knew why Leon did not wanted to read them, all the colors from her face were washed out. Leon glanced at Aerith and the look on her face told him everything he needed to know.

He was about to say something to Aerith when Yuffie squealed, "Hey check THIS out!"

"What is it?" Eiko inquired.

"A letter" Yuffie replied innocently.

Cid rolled his eyes and said, "Duh! Thanks of stating the obvious"

"Hey it's not just any letter, it's a special one" she said with a grin. "Guess correctly, who is it from and you win a cookie" she announced.

"It's from King Mickey" Leon said walking towards her. Yuffie gaped, "Oh my gwad, how did you know that?" Leon took the letter she was holding and flipped it over and showed King Mickey's symbol on it, "That's how" Yuffie scratched the back of her head still grinning.

Leon opened the letter and like usual every one surrounded him.

_Dear Leon and Aerith,_

_Wow what a pleasant surprise, I sure wasn't expecting that! You know, you guys are REALLY good at hiding it. I never noticed that there was something going on between you two. Leon...you liar, why did you hide it from me? And Aerith you too! Oh well it doesn't matter now. I am really happy for you guys; you made the right choice, best of luck guys. You know I always though that you guys would look great together. Anyway, congratulation on you wedding. Oh and thanks for not inviting ME… trust me Leon, you'll pay for this."_

'_Oh great, one more enemy_' Leon thought sarcastically.

"Why does bad news spread at the speed of light?" Leon's thoughts came out of his mouth as everyone got a chuckle out of it.

Everyone (but Leon) went back to reading the letters. Even though Aerith did not want to go through it, somehow she was able to convince herself to read it. After all discarding without reading would be rude.

Leon was just looking at the pile of letters when something caught his eyes. Leon kneeled down and picked a letter for heap and read the name on it, "Sora"

Everyone looked at him and so he explained, "It's a letter from Sora." Leon opened the letter and was quickly surround by the rest of the crew.

_Hey guy, I am really really sorry I couldn't attend your wedding...I think I lost your wedding card...even though Donald and Goofy says that we didn't get any but I am pretty sure I must have misplaced it... anyway congratulations… I'd be visiting you guys soon...and I'd love to hear your love story… hope to see a young toddler by the time I come there...and make sure it's a boy… (He drew a big smiley next to it) So I get to betem' up (like Leon did when I came to TT) Oh and don't you dare think about his name, that's my job. I'll come up with some ultra-super-cool name for him like Leonskid or Kidofsquall or Aerithsboy or something cool like that. I am even sending a gift in advance, it's a mini keyblade…oops I think I misplaced that too, so umm I'd bring it when I come there in few weeks okay…  
Donald & Goofy are wishing you best of luck, although I don't know why, but…  
Oh gotta go now, make sure to have a baby boy… haha…  
Take care…  
Sora_

After reading Sora's letter Leon was completely speechless while Aerith was beat red.

Cid was clutching his stomach in laughter, "You just got married and people are already expecting kids from you guys… hahahaha…" "And that too in just few weeks… hahahaha…" said Yuffie rolling on the floor laughing. "And here I thought you believed in platonic vales Leon!" Eiko rubbed in.

Cid, Yuffie and Eiko were having time to their life teasing Leon and Aerith.

Since reading Sora's letter, Aerith's mind was plagues with… umm… lets say, not so good thought which involved her and Leon doing some stuff… you know like umm…like… chasing the Keyblade master with a fork in hand… (A/N: Ya what were you thinking about?) … and….umm ya something like that… or something not worth talking about. Leon on the other hand was out right furious.

It was almost noon and there was still a big pile of letters to go through. Everyone seemed to have forgotten about their breakfast. But Aerith was really hungry as she didn't eat anything yesterday either. Since she hated eating alone she asked everyone if they would like to join her in late-morning-almost-afternoon-just-before-lunch breakfast.  
Surprisingly enough Yuffie and Eiko opted out of it. They were willing to sacrifice some of their hunger in order to continue their entertainment i.e. reading letters and teasing Leon. Even though she knew that it was not worth asking Leon, said did it anyway, and as expected he replied, "I don't want to eat, it's past my routine time, it would mess up my schedule" To Leon his routine always gets privilege over his food.

'_Some things never change_' Aerith thought dryly.

Only Cid agreed to company her on their delayed-breakfast/pre-lunch/bruch (Take breakfast and add to lunch and you get Bruch) Both Aerith and Cid helped themselves and sat on the opposite sides of the table. Aerith had just opened her mouth to eat when poor door of the hotel was slammed open once again. This time someone was screaming Aerith's name even before entering through the door.

Yuffie and Eiko saw the person and their eyes widened in terror…

* * *

**Underworld**

Ghost #1 "Hey mate, can I ask you something?"  
Ghost #2 "No"  
Ghost #1 "You know mate I always wondered how did you—"  
Ghost #2 "I think said NO!"  
Ghost #1 "Ya whatever mate… so like I was saying, you never told me how died."  
Ghost #2 "Oh please don't remind me."  
Ghost #1 "I think I just did mate."  
Ghost #2 "Urrrggghhh Ok I'll tell you but promise not to tell anyone?"  
Ghost #1 "Promise"  
Ghost #2 "Back in days… I use to work as executioner. One day I was suppose to electrocute a gruesome murderer. So from the goodness of my heart I asked him  
"_Any last wishes?"  
"Yes"  
"What is it?"  
"Please hold my hand?"  
_Ghost #2 "and I umm did…"_  
_Ghost #1 "hahahahaha you freaking idiot. That was just too fu--"  
Its words were caught in its throat… "Ru.. Run…" screamed Ghost #1 scampering away.  
Ghost #2 turned around and was terrified by that he had seen…  
Ghost #2 (gulp) "_Can a ghost be killed?_"  
Ghost #2 "_On second thought, I don't want to find out…_"  
Ghost #2 ran away as the one winged angle made his way through the abyss.

* * *

Gee if you are reading this story they why don't you say so! R & R 


	9. Episode 9 Dinosaur in distress

**! Dinosaur-in-distress !**

* * *

"Aerith, Aerithh, Aeritthh, Aeriitthh, Aerriitthh, Aeerriitthh, Aaeerriitthh" someone screamed her name from the doorway.  
Yuffie and Eiko saw the person and their eyes widened in terror… 

The person somehow managed to squeeze through the door way and ran towards Aerith.

Yuffie and Eiko had to plaster themselves to the wall. They had barely gotten out of the harms way when 400+ pound Ms. Dorky oops I mean Ms. Dorthy stomped passed them. Had they been a second a late, then they would have been a human pan cake. Leon was leaning against the wall with his eyes close when Ms. Dorthy rushed passed him and for a moment he thought it was an earth quake. He immediately opened his eye as few pieces from the ceiling started falling off.

To prevent Dorthy from cause any further damage Aerith ran up to her instead. Dorthy was barely able to apply her brakes or else Aerith too would have joined the pancake club.

"What is it Ms. Dorthy?" Aerith asked in a trembling voice as the scars from the near death/nearly-getting-squashed, experience were still fresh.

"Trouble" she replied hastily.

'_Do you mean besides you?_' it was a good thing that Aerith's thought didn't come out by her mouth accidentally or else there would have been lot of 'accidents' there.

"There was fire in one of the house in first district…and lot of people are injured and some are severally burned" she informed the tragic news.

"Oh my god!" was all Aerith was able to say through a gasp.  
Without waiting for anything else she ran to the hospital as fast as her legs could carry her.

The moment Aerith ran out of the hotel everyone was hoping that Dorthy won't do the same as Aerith.

'_Dorthy please don't fancy your chances_' Yuffie thought, her eyes still wide as a watermelon.

'_Don't try this at home_' Eiko screamed in her mind, her state no different then Yuffie's.

But much to everyone's disappointment/horror she did exactly what everyone was hoping that she wouldn't do, she ran. Yuffie and Eiko, who had barely recovered, went back to hugging the wall as if giving signal to a train to go right ahead. Now, you don't want to be in Ms. Dorthy's way when she runs. If you are unlucky/unfortunate enough to be in her way then you would be like a coin and she would like a train that runs over it. Ms. Dorky Express was about to take off as Leon thought, '_Lets just hope that this structure will survive the assault' _The Dorky Express took off as floor started vibrating, '_and god forbids if she trips on this ground floor then—_' Leon's thought process came to a screeching halt when his thought became reality.

Dorthy had stepped on one of the many letters and tripped… and fall… causing a big dent in the floor. Although she was not hurt, she was now conveniently stuck as her leg had broken through the wooden floor. She was lying on the floor with her leg stuck in the floor. Rather uncomfortable position, you know.

"Oh no" she said with a sigh.

"Oh hell NOOOOOOOOO" said everyone else in chorus.  
'_Don't tell me we have to pull her out!_' was a unanimous thought in everyone's mind.

"Please get me out of here" Dorthy pleaded.

Cid cracked his knuckles and said, "Let do it fellas… you won't get another chance in your life to salvage a dinosaur"

Everyone looked at Cid with wide eyes, '_Do you have a death wish Cid?_' Leon thought staring at Cid.

But surprises of all surprise, Dorthy was blushing big time after hearing this.

Eiko asked Yuffie slowly, "Why is she blushing?"

"Ya why are you blushing Ms. Dorthy?" Normally brain processes all the data but in Yuffie's case her mouth does that too, genius I tell you.

"Awwee he just called me a dinosaur… that's the best thing anyone had ever said to me" she said turning beat red.

"What the…?" Cid uttered in a surprise.

"How could calling someone 'a dinosaur' be a good thing?" Eiko asked.

"You see my boyfriend always calls me a Godzilla… so you know, being called dinosaur was kind of… romantic" she replied sheepishly.

Cid literary fell to ground as mini Godzilla's started to dance around his head instead of regular birdies. Yuffie and Eiko were rolling on the floor laughing. Even Leon could not help but laugh at this tragic turn of events, '_Poor Cid_'

After good two minutes of laughter Leon was the first one to get back to his normal self, "Lets get her out first" he announced pushing himself forward from the wall he was leaning against. Cid was still lying on the floor seeing horrors of Mini-Godzilla dance.  
Leon forcefully pulled him up. They all surrounded the dinosaur-in-distress. Cid and Yuffie grabbed her left hand while Leon grabbed her right hand. Eiko wasn't sure which side to pick so she created a side of her own. She decided to pull Dorthy by her ears since she was not tall enough to help pull her by her gigantic hand. Beside she would never a chance to pull her ears again.

"On three" Cid said getting ready. Leon nodded in response.  
"One"  
"Two"  
"and Thre—" Cid couldn't finish his count because Yuffie interrupted at the very last moment.  
"Wait! Do we start pulling on three or after three?" she asked innocently.

Leon just shook his head side ways while Cid replied, "Shut up and just pull this (censored) dino lady out of here"

"Ohhhh you are so romantic… you just called me a lady" Dorthy said dreamily completely ignoring the fact that he also use the word dino in from of it.

"What the (censored)" was Cid natural response.

Everyone shared a laugh at that as the CURSE radio with Cid as a host had just begun. If you tune into this channel all you would hear is bleep sound and occasionally few random words here and there.

Once again Squall brought things back to order, "Enough, lets get her out of here first so Cid and Dorthy can do what they want to do" even Leon was having good time picking on Cid. Leon's last statement just added fuel to the fire. But everyone was at work now. After struggling for good 5 minutes they were able to achieve the impossible.

Eiko signaled to Leon and he nodded back in response. A split second later Leon let go of Dorthy's hand and as a result Dorthy was pulled on the left side squashing Cid like a bug. Yuffie too was in line of fire but her ninja skills kicked in at the very last moment as she jumped away from the on coming behemoth.

Dorthy was finally up thanks to some bone breaking and muscle tearing hard work by everyone. Once she got back on her feet she quickly apologized Cid and was ready to take off once again, her sense of duty was still active.

"Nooo" Leon said but he was too late at Dorthy started running (In her case its called running but for everyone else its called fast walking)

She was so eager to get back to work that she thought that she would be able to squeeze in through the small door. But unfortunately enough she got stuck into the door frame. She was now furious, frustrated and tired of getting stuck in wacky places, so she let out a loud grunt and forced her way through the door… She succeeded… but everyone else failed…

She did manage to get out of the hotel but she also managed to take to door frame with it. Once she was out in the open she manages to get the door frame off from her and carried on as if nothing every happened.

Leon, Yuffie and Eiko were staring blankly with wide eyes. Cid was barely able to stand up with the support of the wall next to him. "What happened?" Cid asked obviously in pain.

All three of them pointed their fingers at a place where door use to be once. They all said simultaneously, "That happened"

Cid almost stumbled backwards when he saw the missing door, "Im-freking-possible"

"You know, I always wondered how that dinosaur lady was able to enter through such a small door" Yuffie said in a monotone, still lot in trance.  
"You know, if there is one living creature I am afraid of, then it has to be Ms. Dino."

Leon sighed and furrowed his brown in thought, '_How am I going to explain all this to the hotel owner?_'

* * *

All four of them were standing like a statue looking each other trying to figure out what to do next. They didn't get much time to think because a short and scrawny guy barged in next. 

"Hey, haven't you heard of knocking before entering?" yelled Yuffie with her hands on her hips trying to emit Aerith.

The short guy was visibly frightened as he replied in a trembling voice, "I did… but it's not my fault that your door its 10 feet away from where it should have been" he completed by point out the broken door lying on the road.

Yuffie who was angry a moment ago broke into a goofy grin, "Gee I never thought about that."

"Hey shorty is anyone freaking there?" a loud voice boomed from the background.

"Yes…yes boss… just like he told us, they are all here"

A large truck came into view and stop right on top of their broken door crushing it completely. Thanks to the truck incident now they had no way to prove that once upon a time those wooden pieces formed a complete door. The door to the truck opened and a guy jumped from it…followed by…one more person…and another one…and another one…and yet another one…and… If all the things that have happened so far weren't eerie enough then this was definitely it as 8 oversize men came out from the front compartment of the truck. The recommended occupants were 1 driver and two persons but no one knew how the hell they managed to squeeze in 8 big guys in such a small compartment.

This has to be one of the most shocking days in their lives as they kept on running into one shocking event after another one. First the newspaper threat, then the mail incident, then Dorthy incident and now this…

All eight men entered the hotel in a straight line with their boss at the end of it. Leon and gang looked at the uninvited visitors in awe as every single person who walked in were tall, strong, sturdy and mean looking guys.

The guy referred as boss stepped out of the line and came into view. He was a bid dark, tall and very muscular man and surprisingly enough he looked a lot like Cid. He even had a straw in his mouth. He said in his deep frightening voice "Goooooood, now that they are here we came finish it of" he said rubbing his hands.

"Ya, lets do what we get paid for" said one of his apprentice. Everyone started at the defenders of Traverse Town and started cracking their knuckles.

'_Is this part of the revenge Shepherd mentioned in the newspaper?_' Cid thought frantically.

'_I am too young to die_' Eiko thought frighteningly.

'_Dam! I left my suriken in my room…just when I needed them the most_' Yuffie scolded herself.

'_I wonder what's this all about_' Leon thought dryly, still unfazed by the situation.

The leader of the group turned around and barked, "Boys go get the weapons"

* * *

It was night and there was no one in the coliseum except one person.  
He was sitting in the stands, well hidden from a normal eye.  
He was lost in thoughts, leaning forward in his seat with his hands resting on his knees 

"This is it… After all these years of endless search, it would be over."  
"I would finally be able to find him… and more importantly I would defeat him"  
"I would finally be able to conquer my darkness and go back to my light."  
"I would finally be free to live like a human…"  
He clenched his feasts tightly. The claw in his hand was ripping through his flesh but that pain was nothing compare to the pain Sephiroth had caused him.  
More he thought about him more anger he mustered within himself.  
"It just matter of time now… till this all ends…"

* * *

**A/n:** Another short chapter, sorry about that. But I needed this chapter to avoid a writer's block, I hope you understand. Oh and please check out my latest fic "A silent voice" starting Leon x Aerith x Cloud as usual. It a one-shot, you would love it.

* * *

**_  
You know the deal, If you read then you gotta review, how else would I know if you liked it or not? So... R & R!_**


	10. Episode 10 Is it Cid or Sid ?

**! Cid or Sid !**

* * *

Leon approached the leader fearlessly and stared into his eyes. Both looked at each other but none blinked. The situation was getting tense by every passing second. 

"Yes?" Leon asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Are yee the one in charge?" the leader asked in a menacing tone.

"Yes" came the calm reply.

"We need the damn keys for your red and green room?" the leader demanded.

Even before Leon could say a word, Yuffie blurted out, "Why do you need keys when the rooms are open right now?" Leon turned he head sideways and glared at Yuffie.

"Oh" leader of the group said with a smirk, "Boys lets move" he ordered. His team started walking towards the stairs but Leon blocked their path.

"Where do you think you are going" he asked in a tone which would give chills even to the devil.

The leader approached Leon once again and looked at him. "Show him what we got" he ordered. Leon's fingers curled up into a fist instinctively as he prepared himself for an attack. But instead a lackey pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Leon. Leon grabbed the paper, his senses still on high alert mode. He quickly scanned through the paper and uttered, "Hmm I see"

"We've got the order form the owner of this hotel to fix some crap in your rooms" the leader said after chewing on his straw. Leon looked at him and asked the leader, "Who might you be?"  
"I am the leader of these idiots" he said.  
'_That much I figured'_ Leon thought.  
"We are called the Highwinders, we fix everything from a needle to a rocket. We've been hired to renovate your rooms. I am the owner of this company, the leader of the Highwinders, the name is, Captain Sid" he said proudly extending a hand.  
Like usual, Leon just nodded in response which infuriated Sid.

Yuffie and Eiko looked back and forth between Cid and Sid utterly confused. "Do you think he is Cid's brother?" Eiko whispered to Yuffie. "Wait I am confused… Do you mean Cid could be Sid's bother or did you mean to say that Sid could be Cid's brother?" Yuffie asked totally confusing herself and Eiko. "I don't know anymore, you are confusing me too" Eiko admitted.

Leon handed the paper back and said, "Okay, you may proceed"

Sid turned around and inquired politely, "Who the hell went to get the damn tools?"

"Boss you said, 'Go get the weapons' but we didn't bring any weapons" replied on of his lackey.

"Arrrghhhh you numbskulls… I meant to say go and get our tools from the damn truck" Sid barked. Everyone in the group were visibly frightened, "But… but boss, how are we suppose to know what you want… when… what you say and what you mean are two totally different things" the short guy said in a wavering voice. "Awweee shut up and go get the damn tools" Sid yelled once again.

Everyone rushed out of the hotel to get the tool kit. "Hey you don't need 8 damn stupid people to get one damn tool kit" Sid yelled but everyone was out of the door by then.

"Now I am sure Sid is Cid's brother" Eiko said confidently after noticing some of Sid's physical trends. "Nah, I think it's the other way around" Yuffie said disagreeing with Eiko.

All of Sid's lackeys returned quickly. Sid saw them and shook his head before walking up the stairs. He was on the last step when he paused and turned around to look at his men.

Like usual, they were following him blindly. Sid threw down the straw he was chewing on and stomped on it in anger, "Where the hell do ya all think you are going? You all think that you are in my wedding or somethin? Stop following me and go get the damn bed"

All 8 men rushed out and he yell yet again "Its just one damn bed and ya don't need 8 dim-witted men get it" so all of lackeys stopped dead in their tracks. "Ok listen up freaks, here is how we do it" he paused for a while then said, "Half of you, go and get the damn bed and… half of you numbskulls go upstairs and start fixing the damn door… and rest of the idiots follow me" he ordered.

Instead of following Sid's orders, all 8 men started playing Rock-Paper-Scissors. "What the hell are you guys doing" Sid yelled not believing his eyes. "Boss, we are trying to decide who should go upstairs and who should go get the bed"  
"Arrrrggghhhhhh you stupid (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored)"

Immediately a smile creped up on Cid's face, "_Looks like I have finally meet my match_"

Everyone scattered way after seeing their outraged boss. Four people went outside to unload the bed from the truck while four people rush passed Sid and went upstairs to fix the door, leaving wondering Sid behind, "_Okay soooooo, if half of them went outside and half of them went upstairs then where the hell are the rest of them? I though we decided that we are going to be working in three teams… why do I always end up being alone? ... Urrrgggghhhh…_" he shrugged and carried on.

Striking similarities between both Cid and Sid was bothering Yuffie. So her curiosity got better of her, "Cid did you ever had a long lost bother you don't know about?"  
'_How am I suppose to know about something I don't know about? Wait the… that doesn't make any sense... no, it does… wait…urghhh…'_ He shook his head vigorously and replied "Nah I never had a brother. Why you ask?"

"You know I was just thinking..." Yuffie started.  
'_Yuffie thinking! That can't be good_' Cid thought.  
"Since he sounds like you and acts like you then I thought… he must me you, but since you are you, he cant be you so in that case he has to be your long lost brother you don't know about"

Cid almost fainted at her logic… it just wasn't Cid's day, first the newspaper, then the dino lady and now this...

All the residents of the hotel were wondering, just what the heck was going on upstairs. All sort of different noise could easily be heard downstairs so Leon decided to go check it out. But much to Leon's disappointment two of Sid's lackeys were blocking the way not letting anyone pass until their work was finished.

After few minutes, Sid came down to informed Leon that their work might take few hours. So Leon decided to carry on with his normal routine. He asked Cid to stay back until Sid and his company finished their work. He also instructed Cid to ask Sid if they can fix the dent on the floor and to fix the missing door of the hotel, once they were done. Cid agreed to stay back and get things done.

Leon left with Eiko and Yuffie by his side. They first went to Merlin's place and dropped Eiko off. From there, they went to the third district to exterminate hordes of ever growing heartless. Leon and Yuffie spend hours fighting with the heartless while Cid spend hours sitting there doing nothing.

* * *

Sid and company had just finished their work so they came down. Sid and Cid came face to face for the very first time. Their conversation begin… 

Here is how the normal conversation would have taken place.  
Sid: OMG you look a lot like me…  
Cid: Ya and you even talk like me  
Sid: Pretty cool huh  
Cid: Ya  
Sid: Anyway we've fixed everything which we were supposed to fix. (Pulls something out from his pocket) Hey can you please give this to Leon.  
Cid: Sure  
Sid: Okay then we'll be leaving now.  
Cid: Hey can you do me a favor?  
Sid: What is it?  
Cid: You see the floor, is completely whacked up so… can you guys fix that?  
Sid: Woh! Now that a big favor.  
Cid: Ya I know  
Sid: Sorry that not part of the contract, so can't do.  
Cid: How about the door.  
Sid pulled out another piece of paper and read it out loud; "It says 'please fix the doors'"  
Sid put the note away and looked at Cid, "This door is also part of 'doors' right? I think we can fix that for you.  
Cid: Great, thank you so much.

But here is how the actual conversation went.  
Sid: Hey you look (censored) lot like me  
Cid: Ya and you even (censored) (censored) talk like me  
Sid: Pretty (censored) (censored) (censored) cool huh  
Cid: Ya that is (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) cool  
Sid: Anyway we've fixed every damn thing which we were suppose to (censored) (censored) (censored) fix. (Sid pulls something out from his pocket and handed it to Cid) Hey give this (censored) (censored) (censored) to Leon.  
Cid: You (censored) (censored) (censored) got it  
Sid: Okay then we'll be (censored) (censored) (censored) leaving now.  
Cid: Hey can you do me a big (censored) (censored) (censored) favor?  
Sid: What the (censored) (censored) (censored) do you want?  
Cid: You see the (censored) (censored) (censored) floor, is completely (censored) (censored) (censored) whacked up so… can you guys (censored) (censored) (censored) fix that?  
Sid: Woh! Now that a (censored) (censored) (censored) big favor.  
Cid: Ya (censored) (censored) (censored) I know  
Sid: Sorry that not part of the (censored) (censored) (censored) contract, so can't (censored) (censored) (censored) do.  
Cid: How about the (censored) (censored) (censored) door at least.  
Sid pulled out another piece of paper and read it out loud, "It says 'please fix the doors'"  
Sid put the note away and looked at Cid, "I guess the front door is also considered as part of these '_doors_' right? I think we can (censored) (censored) (censored) fix that for you.  
Cid: That's (censored) (censored) (censored) great, thank you so (censored) (censored) (censored) much.  
Sid: But there is one (censored) (censored) problem.  
Cid: What the (censored) is it?  
Sid: We are out of (censored) (censored) wood.

Cid: (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored)  
Sid: But don't you (censored) worry about it. Hey boys, go get the (censored) couch we installed in the Red room.

Surprisingly enough the door was fixed or rather patched fairly quickly.

Sid and Cid came face to face once again, "Okay everything is (censored) (censored) (censored) done" said the Sid. "It was (censored) (censored) (censored) nice to meet ya" admitted Cid. "Same (censored) (censored) (censored) here" Sid replied. Then they both looked at each other and laughed out loud.

* * *

Aerith was really exhausted and hungry as she had been working non stop since she got to the hospital. Besides, using one Curaga after another, was taking its toll on her. Every time she deiced to take a break she thought about the agony and the pain of the people who got burns. '_Someone might lose their lose life just because I was resting_' she thought. '_I can't rest now, the more I work the less they suffer' _she thought determinedly and went back to her endless work.

* * *

Yuffie was constantly whining now as she wanted to go back to the hotel but much to her disappointment Leon did not agree with her ideas.  
"One more hour and then we go, okay?" Leon said.  
"But that's what you said like three hours ago" Yuffie whined once again.  
"Yuffie that was 30 minutes ago, not three hours ago" Leon corrected.  
"Well it felt like three hours to it was like three hours ago" Yuffie retorted.  
"Well to me it felt like three seconds ago, so according to that logic we still have a long time to go" Leon said with a slight smirk.  
"Awwweeee come onnnnnn" Yuffie said tiredly.

* * *

Cid was now thoroughly bored, so he started pacing back and forth. He looked sideways and saw the pile of letter still lying there. He continued his pacing for a while but stopped dead in his tracks when an ingenious idea popped into his head, "That's it… I can use their publicity to make a fortune"  
He left the letter (from Sid) on the table and without waiting of anyone or anything else Cid ran out of the hotel. 

Cid ran to his shop and called all of his employees. "Listen up fellas, fill this shop up with every damn thing we have. Make sure there ain't a single spot in the shop which in not filled with an item. I have to go to the press and then I will go get some more stuff to fill" Cid ordered happily.  
"Oh and if someone come looking for me then you don't know where I am, okay?" Cid added that comment later.  
"Understood, kupo" replied all the moogles.

Without saying anything else or without stating any reason for his actions he walked out of the shop.

Moogles did not know what the hack was going on but decided to follow the boss's command.  
"We don't get that many customer kupo, so why are we filling up everything kupo?" asked one of the moogle who works in Cid's shop.  
"I don't know kupo" replied his colleague, "May be Cid will tell us once he comes back."

Cid wasn't even completely out of sight when another moogle came from behind

"Kupo there is a customer who is looking for Cid" "okay I'll be right there" said the moogle in charge.

The moogle in charge made its way to the counter and was surprised a bit to see the customer, "Merlin, Eiko, how may I help you kupo?"  
"Oh I need to talk with Cid about something" said Merlin.  
"Cid said that he is going to the press but he also said that I am not suppose to know where he went… and since I don't know it, I cant tell you where Cid went."  
"umm okay" said Merlin. "Let's go Merlin" Eiko said with a smile.  
After Eiko and Merlin left the scene another moogle came from the back to complement their leader "Gee kupo you are so smart!" moogle giggled and said "Thanks kupo, I knew my education would come in handy."

* * *

"It's going to be in tomorrow's paper right?" Cid asked the manager of the press.  
"Correct" he replied.  
"Okay then, here is the payment" Cid said putting all the required munny on the table.  
Cid left the press with a content smile on his face.  
He came back to the shop after an hour or so with large truck full of various stuff. 

As soon as Cid entered the shop he was bombarded with questions.  
"What happened kupo?"  
"Is the world coming to an end?"  
"Why are we filling everything up like there is no tomorrow"  
Three questions were fired from three different moogles.  
Cid and smiled and replied, "You all just wait till tomorrow, even all these stuff wont be enough"  
"I hope you are right kupo because if we don't sell all this stuff tomorrow then we'll be bankrupt"  
"Not like we ever get paid, but ya that would be bad kupo!"  
"Oh don't you worry about a thing; we'll be rich in no time because tomorrow is the show time…" Cid finished it off with a smirk.

* * *

**A/n:**

What the hell is Cid planning?  
What did Sid and his crew worked on?

The real fun is about to begin…

Just one more chapter till we get into some serious Leon x Aerith love story. All the elements are finally in place now…

**_If you read it, then you gotta review it... How else would I know if you liked it or not? So please... R & R!_**

* * *


	11. Episode 11 Renovated Life

**! Renovated Life !**

* * *

"Can we go now?"  
"No…" 

30 seconds latter…

"Can we go now?"  
"I said no…"

25 seconds latter…

"Can we go now, please?"  
"What part of 'NO' do you not understand? We still have 25 minutes before the sunset."

20 seconds latter…

"Can we—"  
Within fraction of a second Leon swirled around and swung his gunblade in an arch with stopped barely a centimeter away from Yuffie's throat.

"What were you saying again?" he asked in his cold and intimidating voice. "Noth— Nothi-- Nothing— really… I— I—wasn't talking to you… I— I was talking to— to-- the heartless… I— I was just asking the heartless if we can go on a date, someday… so I was asking him if we can go sooner, like now… so you— you don't have to come back to kill it again…" she said in a trembling in fear. "Oh how nice of you" Leon said sarcastically. "You are welcome… umm can you move your gunblade please—" Leon removed his gunblade even before could complete her sentence. Yuffie sighed in a relief.

Leon stepped back and spun his gunblade in his hand before slamming it in the ground. Seeing the gunblade embedded in the ground rejuvenated Yuffie's energy. She took a deep breath and yelled, "heeeeyyyaaaaa" and with all her might she kicked Leon in the shin,

"You big freaking meany! How can you do that to such a innocent little girl like me"

Leon seemed unaffected by her attack, "I thought you were the great ninja Yuffie, not some innocent little girl"

"That's right, no that wrong, no… urgghhh… listen up mister, I am the-innocent-looking-girl-from-wutai-who-also-happens-to-be-the-greatest-ninja-of-all-time-known-as-the-great-ninja-yuffie, got that?"

"Whatever, If you think you are so great the why don't you prove yourself in the Hades Cup. You still have some time till the tournament to prepare yourself" Leon said that walking away from the furious ninja.

"Hey were do you think you are going? Come back here, I am not done yet…"

Leon picked up his gunblade and placed it on his shoulder and calmly started walking away, completely ignoring Yuffie and her constant chattering.

"Hey are you even listening to me? You better be or else…" she pulled out one of her suriken and threw it at Leon. Leon lowered his gunblade from his shoulder and deflected the suriken even without looking at it.

He paused from a moment and turned around to see Yuffie still standing in the same position, "I thought you wanted to go back?"

The lights in Yuffie's head instantly lit up, "Can we go now?" Leon sighed and placed his hand on his forehead in his trademark style.

* * *

On their way back they stopped by Merlin's house to pick up Eiko. But it looked like Eiko was also have good time. She had learned many new spells from Merlin. Eiko displayed her newly acquired knowledge to Leon which got her a rare 'Leon-complement'. She was a quick learner, no doubt about it; but it would take lots of practice before her aim and the magnitude of the spell rises. Merlin requested Eiko to stay back and she gladly agreed.

* * *

From there Yuffie wanted to go straight to the café to eat while Leon wanted to go back to the hotel to see if Aerith had returned. Beside that he also wanted to know what Sid and his crew actually 'fixed'. 

After much argument Leon agreed to go to the café first so naturally Yuffie became ecstatic. She started skipping happily besides Leon. After five minutes they were by the hotel entrance. That's when Yuffie realized that Leon had fooled her. He agreed to go the café but started walking toward the hotel instead and ecstatic Yuffie blindly followed him. '_Leonhart, you'll pay for this_' she thought looking at Squall.

The door of the hotel was conveniently left wide open, which worried Leon. But he was also glad to know that now they at least had a door, what if it was patched, it's still called a door. Leon decided to ignore the door for the time being and enter the hotel with Yuffie in tag like always. But once inside; she rushed passed Leon with a clear intention of raiding the fridge. Leon looked around for Cid but found no trace of him. He then followed Yuffie to the dining area. As soon as Leon entered the dinning area his eyes fell upon a letter. There aren't many things in this world which would make the mighty Leonhart feel uneasy, but lately letters were doing a darn good job at it. Leon was slowly and staidly developing the symptoms of something called Letterophobia – fear of reading letter.

A silent prayer escaped through Leon's lips as he opened the letter. Yuffie also joined him with a sea-salt ice-cream in her hand. As Leon started reading letter out loud…

**Oh justt because I am nott around doesn'tt mean I forgott aboutt you guys, like you did me on your wedding.  
**_(Not again… _Leon thought with a sigh_)  
_**Anyway since you guys are married now I tthink you should move in witth Aeritth, since tthatt is bigger room. **  
_(Woh! Woh! Woh! slow down…)_  
**So, here is a small giftt for you and your wife... a complete renovation of your rooms!  
Oh and guess whatt?  
I have also insttructted tthe guys to remove the connectting door, so no one would botther you and your wife.  
Now, now, I know tthatt you mustt be tthinking aboutt how tto repay me for my kindness…  
**_(Actually it's quite the opposite)  
_**But don'tt worry about itt; you don't have to tthank me for anytthing. Consider tthis as your wedding giftt.  
Ttake care of Pharaoh, I will be coming back soon"  
The almost forgotten owner of the hotel…**

"_Great… just freaking great, just when I think that things cant go any wrong, fate proves me wrong over and over again_" Leon thought infuriatingly.

Before Leon could think about anything else Yuffie grabbed Leon by his hand started pulling him. Leon raised an eyebrow, questioning Yuffie. "Let's go upstairs and check out our newly renovated rooms" Yuffie said excitedly before dragging Leon along with her.

The first in line was the red room or as Yuffie pointed out, Mr. & Mrs. Leonhart's room. Leon placed his hand on the doorknob and paused for a moment. Yuffie was practically screaming in his ears to open the door. Leon did that with a sinking feeling…

Yuffie eyeballs almost jumped out of its sockets when she saw the newly renovated red room. Aerith's regular bed was gone and it was replaced by the king size, royal canopy bed. The royal canopy bed really lived up to its name, as it looked really fancy and royal, perhaps too royal for Leon's taste. The connecting door was now a history as a bread new dressing table was placed there. With bunch of closets and brand new furniture it really looked like a five start hotel room. Yuffie was totally exultant after seeing the red room while Leon was well… being Leon. 'A first class room, means a first class increase in the rent, great… this fake wedding has already started sucking my munny. At this rate I don't know what would be first, Eiko's graduation (from secondary school) or my bankruptcy."  
Leon almost ignored all the good stuff in the room as he was busy thinking about the rent. But something which his busy mind was still able to pick up was that there was just a big bed and no couch in the room. Leon found it strange but ignore it for time being…

_(cough Sid cough door cough)  
_  
After seeing the red room, Yuffie was really exited to see what was stored for her in the green room. Without waiting for Leon, Yuffie rushed passed him and grabbed the handle of the green room. She took a deep breath and opened the door and slowly peeked inside; her eyes went wide as watermelon as she placed her hands on her mouth and collapsed on the floor with eyes still opened. Leon who saw Yuffie's reaction was a bit confused now as he did not know what caused it. "Did she collapse in joy or was it because of something bad?" he asked himself. His mind answered his rhetorical question, "You never know. With Yuffie anything is possible."

Leon went ahead and looked into the green room and a big frown was formed on his face immediately. He placed his hand on his forehead and shook his head in his trademark style, "You've gotta be kidding me."

What he saw in front of him was a Twin Bunk Bed. The bed on the ground was placed exactly were their old bed use to be while the bed on the top ran parallel to the back forming 90 degree angle with the bed on the ground. It was a nice change from those regular bunk beds which are on top of each other. Even thought it was nice, it was too small for Leon, '_How the hell am I suppose to sleep in THAT puny thing.'_

Leon did not get much time to ponder upon that thought as the dazed ninja recovered and shouted in his ear, "I got the top one, I called first so its mine." Yuffie ran to her new bed brushing past Leon.

Yuffie jumped on the bed on the ground and from there she jumped to the bed on the top. "They put ladder for a purpose you know" Leon remarked. "Ya, they put it for old folks like you" Yuffie snapped back without missing a beat. Leon just shook his head and slouched down on his puny little bed. It might be big enough for Eiko or Yuffie, but for Leon it was just too damn small.

Leon removed his shoes as he prepared to go to sleep. "Woh Woh Woh! Your room is over there, this is my room" Yuffie said getting a bit animated. "Whatever" came the one word reply.

"You are a married man, so you just can't sleep with a maiden like me in the same room" Yuffie continued to complain. "Shut up Yuffie" said Leon getting annoyed.

"What would people say about my character when they find it out that I slept in the same room with a married man!"

"Whatever"

"You've got your own private room with your wife, so why don't just go there?" Leon had no intentions of moving in with Aerith,

_'That's just not happening. This is my room, this has been my room since last seven years and I am going nowhere'_ he thought determinedly.

While Leon was busy thinking Yuffie was constantly chattering. Leon took off his jacket and stretched a bit. He walked up to the switch and after placing his hand on it he asked Yuffie, "Are you done yet? I am really tired and I need to go to sleep"

Yuffie knew from the beginning that this was a lost cause but to annoy Leon was he favorite hobby so she said, "No I am not done yet, in fact I am far from done yet, in fact I am way far from done yet, in fact I am… wait what were we talking about?" she asked getting confused. Leon turned off the lights and chuckled before making his way to the so-called-bed.

* * *

Leon was sleeping into a fetal position since the bed was not big enough for him. It must have been more then an hour yet sleep did not come to him. After one hour of thorough introspection Leon's mind was finally ready to rest. In past one hour, he had everything planned for the next day, he thought about few new battle tactics and strategies to use against the enemy. He then finally revised his responsibilities and duties to himself and was now ready to sleep. Leon turned around once again and noticed that the person above him wasn't doing to good either. 

For last one hour Yuffie had been tossing and turning around, shaking the bed every time. At first Yuffie thought that a bunker bed was a cool idea but now she regretted that. Same Yuffie who was screaming in joy earlier was now cursing her head off. For the first time in last nine years she had to sleep alone… ALONE. '_Arrrrgghhhh its all his fault, he had to get married, he had to make everything public and he had to create this mess. Its because of him they renovated MY room. Its because of him I was deprived of my bed, it's because of him that I have to sleep alone; it's because of him everything is happing. It's all his fault!'_ Yuffie turned around once more and looked at the person below her, '_Ohhhh just look at him, and after destroying my sleep he is sleeping peacefully. No fair! I will get my revenge, Mr. Leonhart. If I can't sleep then I won't let you sleep either.'_ Yuffie's mind changed the channel once again. Now it was busy trying to find a way to disturb Squall's sleep.

On the other hand Leon had his eyes shut but his mind was still open for business, '_I wonder if Aerith is all right, she better not over do it. She still hasn't returned… what could be so bad? There are other people who can take care of patients. But nope, she has to be there all the time, till they recover. She is just too kind...'_ his mind was plagued by her thoughts. '_A day without Aerith seemed very… empty'_ he thought. '_Be careful Leon… you getting emotionally attached… and that is a very dangerous thing'_ St. Leon warned him. Leon immediately snapped back to reality, '_Yes, I can't afford open up; I just can't risk it all. I can't let my feeling distract me from my duties. I have so many responsibilities; I have so many things to do. I don't have time to for all this emotional stuff. I must keep my distance from her, like I always have'_ Leon concluded.

Yuffie was planning to disturb Leon's peaceful sleep but she fell asleep even before she could come up with a decent idea. Leon too drifted into sleep.

But it must have been less 15 minutes before Leon's nice slumber came to an abrupt end when… Yuffie rolled on her side in sleep and fell from the top. As if the day wasn't bad enough, it looked like Yuffie was hell-bent on making it the worst night on his life. She fell on him seven times in last 2 hours and 47 minutes. Miraculously Yuffie could just goes back up on her bed and goes back to sleep instantly leaving pondering Leon behind. '_I wish I could also sleep like her'_ Leon thought wishfully. Leon had barely closed his eyes when she crash landed on him yet again…

The entire night was a struggle to sleep… but the next day was going be much worst…

* * *

As we all know by now that Mr. Highwind just can't begin his day without reading the newspaper. Normally the newspaper would come flying through the window… and after some curses Cid would pick it up… and read it. 

But today it was different; Cid was anxiously waiting for the newspaper right by the window. After five minutes or so, Huey came into view. He stopped his bicycle and pulled out a folded paper. He pointed it towards Cid, "Bring it on" yelled Cid…

Huey slowly pulled his hand back and aimed for Cid's head. He then lifted his front leg and leaned on his back leg all the while stretching his hand further. He took a deep breath and was ready to launch… He let out a grunt and leaned forward as the newspaper was released from his hand… oh wait he was still holding it… Huey took and aim again and started all over again. Cid on the other hand was getting more and more impatient.

Huey took the aim yet again but still did not throw the newspaper, annoying Cid further. He then repeated the same process two more times. Cid finally snapped, "What the (censored) do you think you are doing? Just throw the dam newspaper" he yelled. "Oh Mr. Cid cant you see I am doing Yoga! First you stretch your hand back and then you lean on your back leg and take a beep breath and then come on your front foot and release the breath and then repeat the same process—"

"Oh you (censored) son of a duck, you little (censor--)" even before Cid could complete his curse a missile from Huey hit Cid square on his forehead knocking him down. "Score" the duck yelled before running away on his bicycle. "Come back you little (censored)" Cid yell from his window.

Cid finally let go of his anger and picked up the newspaper and opened it hastily. Instead of normal 'HOLY!#$' reaction, a smile was formed on Cid's face. Cid looked at the front page of the newspaper and said with a devilish grin "Now that's what I am talking about… Leon, Aerith…I am sorry… hahahahhahahahahahhahaha"

* * *

"Ohhhhh so there you are" said the man with blue hair. "I've been looking for you everywhere"  
"A demon like me shouldn't be hard to find" Cloud said coldly.  
"Now now cheer up a bit" Hades said with a smile.  
"State your business" said Cloud  
"Now that's what I like, guys who are straight to the point. Now listen up, there are few changes in the plan. You must kill Hercules and anything else which stands in way, in order to win your precious price. It will all happen on the grand stage of 'The Hades Tournament'. You still have some time till the tournament, so prepare yourself. You give me Herc and I'll give you your nemesis, how does that sound?"

* * *

**  
A/n:  
**  
Aerith returns next...  
Oh and "The Hades Tournament" would be a blast... 

_**So what do you think about it? Like it? Love it? Hate it? Please let me know in a review, I'd be waiting.**_


	12. Episode 12 Bad beginning for Yuffie!

**! Bad beginning for Yuffie !  
...**

* * *

Cid finally let go of his anger and picked up the newspaper and opened it hurriedly. Instead of normal 'HOLY!#$' reaction, a smile shaped up on Cid's face. Cid looked at the front page of the newspaper and said with a devilish grin "Now that's what I am talking about… Leon, Aerith…I am sorry… hahahahhahahahahahhahaha"

Cid didn't even bother to finish reading the entire newspaper as he saw bunch of people already walking towards his shop. Ginning heavily he tossed aside his newspaper and rushed for his morning rituals. For the first time in years, Cid had deserted his newspaper over something else.

Within no time Cid was ready to open his shop, and for the first time in the history he had opened his shop at 6 a.m. Even thought the store was opened 3 hours earlier then usual, the customers had already started to flood in. It was getting really hectic since he was the only one working and the flow of customers was persistently increasing.

* * *

Leon woke up with an excruciating twinge in his back. He sat motionless on the couch from couple of minutes, giving some time to his body to recover from excessive pain. Sleeping in an extremely small and uncomfortable bunk bed was one of worst experience he had, and the great ninja from the heaven just made the even matter worst. Leon tried to move again but a sharp pain held him back yet again. Leon sighed and leaned back a bit as his tired eyes fell upon the clock. On seeing time, his eyes widened immediately. Ignoring the pain, he bolted up from his bed and rushed to the next room. As soon as he stepped out of his room, he noticed that the door to the red room was still open, indicating that Aerith still not back from work. But just to satisfy his curiosity he pushed the door further and peaked inside but was disappointed as the person he was looking for was nowhere to be found. "_She still not back;_ _at this pace she'll burn herself out_" he thought with a sigh. Leon turned around and went back to his room, with a frown on his face.

* * *

Cid on the other hand was cursing his head off. No…no…no… he wasn't mad, he was cursing because he was extremely happy! Yup Cid curses when he is mad, he cusrses when he is sad and he curses even when he happy, that's Cid.

The bell on the door chimed yet again as Cid cursed and looked up one more time so see his new customer. But instead of customer, he was greeted by bunch saucer-eyed-moogles. He looked at his so called employees and said with a smirk, "Didn't I tell ya that we are going to be (censored) RICH." The moogles did not responded at they were too shocked to say anything. They had never seen these many customers in last two years combine!

* * *

Once Leon was done with his morning rituals his next big task was to wake up the great ninja. Leon knew for sure that Yuffie could sleep through anything from an avalanche, to an earth quake to a nuclear blast. So you have to do something out of ordinary to wake her up. He looked at the sleeping ninja and thought '_I wonder how Aerith handled such a daunting task?'_ He shrugged and continued '_Aerith must have her ways, but I have mine'_ he thought with a microscopic smile on his lips. He went into the bathroom to prepare few things and came back couple of minutes later. He climbed on the so-called-bed and scooped up the sleeping ninja in a bridal style and took her in the bathroom…  
(You know what happens next right?)  
Leon looked at Yuffie with a devilish smile and then he… and then he did it…he let go of Yuffie and wiped his hands off in style.

Leon had dropped Yuffie in a tub full of cold water. She landed with a splash and her serene slumber came to an abrupt end. The ice cold water jarred her out of her sleep as she frantically tried to swim. She thought she was having a nightmare were she was drowning in an ocean. But once her senses were active again she realizes were she was and who did it, since this was not the first time something like this had happened to her. She popped her head out of the water and saw a man standing with his arms folded looking at her with a genuine smile. Her eyes were screaming bloody murder while in her brain she was cursing in a way that would put even Cid to shame. Leon said with a smirk, "Good morning, kiddo"

Leon left casually as if nothing ever happened.  
Even though she was in cold water her head was really hot and steam could be seen coming out of her ears. "How dare he? Look at his audacity, first he throws me in this cold water and then he has guts to call me 'kiddy'… Mr. Leonhart you'll pay for this, I will get my revenge on you, I swear on my almost-non-existence ninja's pride."  
Once Yuffie let out all the steam she realized exactly where she was...  
She jumped up out of the cold water screaming frantically, "Cold, COld, COLd, COLD"

Talk about rude awakening.

* * *

Cid was at the register happily cursing as the customers continued to pore in. He even made couple of rap songs while taking customers. Here is a small sample of his song…

(censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored)  
Oh I love (censored) (censored) brain-dead, pea-brain, stupid customers…  
(censored) idiots made me (censored) rich rich rich  
(censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored)  
Today is (censored) best (censored) day of my (censored) life…  
Oh what the (censored) can I say, but I am (censored) rich rich rich  
(censored) (censored) (censored) (censored) (censored)

Cid was happily humming his tune when his eyes fell on the picture of Sid and his team by the hotel entrance. He quickly snatched a newspaper from one of his customers and looked at the details. His straw fell out from his mouth as holy!#$& slithered from his mouth.

* * *

An enraged Yuffie joined her partner in officially called "_Sparing session_" and unofficially called "_I-want-to-kill-Leonhart-session_". To say that she was really really really angry, would be the biggest understatement of the year. Yuffie started throwing her surikens left and right. But much to her disappointment Leon deflected each and everyone one of her suriken with his gunblade. Yuffie even hurled her Conformer at Leon which he dodges easily. Yuffie soon ran out of all her surikens and she was yet to hit her prey. Yuffie dodge rolled one of Leon's attacks and recovered her Conformer swiftly. Enraged Yuffie soon attacked Leon with her reacquired weapon but Leon counter attacked, knocking her back. Never the one to miss an opportunity, Leon attacked Yuffie once again; which could have been a finishing blow had Yuffie not rolled out of the way at the very last second. Luckily a there was a suriken right by her foot. In an instance she picked it up and flings it towards Leon with all her might. But yet again Squall deflected it wait ease. Squall smirked at Yuffie's inability to hit him and provoked her further.

The battle continued for more then 20 minutes yet Yuffie was not able to even deal a minor scratch to Squall. "All right, its time for some offence" Squall switched his gunblade in his right hand and charges at Yuffie.

Within a minute his gunblade was conveniently placed on Yuffie's neck and said, "You anger can never get the best out of our abilities, so learn to control it. That was the whole point of tossing you in the water." Leon said concluding their sparing session.

Yuffie sighed heavily and admitted, "Ya I know, I am sorry."

"Don't be; as long as you learn from your mistake its fine. That's the way of life, that's how you keep on improving." Leon said ruffling her hair like a small kid, adding fuel to the fire.

Squall left the fuming Yuffie and continued with his daily drills and exercises. Yuffie was giving him death look but she soon realized that it was pointless to do so, since it doesn't bother Squall at all. She then removed her shoes and sat lazily at the edge of the stream, letting her feet touch the cold water. She was still looking at her partner absentmindedly, while plotting against him at the same time. '_Normally, I would strike right back at my opponent but this time I think I'll wait for the right opportunity. I'll get my revenge when he least expects it. Wait… how about I join Sheppard… hahaha that would be funny. Leon would never suspect that'_ she started snickering as more and more sinister ideas formed in her head.

* * *

"You look tired, you should take a break dear" said concerned Dorthy.

"Yes I will take a break after this round of check ups" replied tired Aerith.

"That's what you said 3 rounds earlier" Dorthy pointed out. Aerith just laughed and walked way.

"This girl…" Dorthy said shaking her head.

* * *

After a prolongated training session Leon and Yuffie had finally returned to the hotel. Leon was the first one to walk in followed by Yuffie. But food had always been the biggest motivating factor for Yuffie, so rushed passed Leon just to step in the dent caused by Dorthy earlier. Naturally she lost her footing and fell face first in the floor. She laid their motionless expecting Squall to help her. But no extra help came for next two minutes, so she gradually got up holding her nose with one hand. '_Where the hell did he go?_' she wondered quite logically.

She heard footsteps at first and then saw Mr. Leon walking down the stairs looking a bit more depressed then usual. Forgetting everything, Yuffie started lashing out on her Squall, "How the hell abandons their partner when they are down and out?"

Squall sighed and said "Sorry" admitting his mistake.

Ignoring Squall's remark she continued, "What the hell where you doing upstairs anyway"

Squall placed his gunblade on the side a grabbed a chair on the other side of the table, which was facing the door. He simply ignoring her question and grabbed a box of cereal. Suddenly a light bulb lit up on Yuffie's head, "Ohhhhh I get it… You are missing your wife, aren't ya?" she said with a goofy grin.

"She is still not back yet" Squall said more to himself then to Yuffie, but she heard it anyway.

Yuffie placed her hands on her hips and said teasingly, "Aren't you a bit TOO worried about Aerith? Look, if you really want to worry about someone then you should be worrying about me instead"

"Hey Yuffie, can you pass me pancakes?" Leon said trying to get Yuffie off-topic.

"Pancakes! Where are pancakes?" Yuffie started looking around frantically.

Leon just smirked and helped himself with some mike and cereals. Yuffie soon gave up on the pancakes and decided to settle for milk and cereals as well.

Yuffie had just pored the milk in her bowl when the main door creaked open and the bell on the top chimed. Both Leon and Yuffie looked at the door and in came a very tired looking Aerith. Her normal smile was nowhere to be found and her face drenched of all colors. Her eyes were all puffy and she looked like a zombie. (No pun intended) A beautiful zombie that is.

Aerith gave a faint smile towards them. Unknown of '_The Dorthy incident_', she made the same mistake which Yuffie did a while ago. She walked right into the trap hole.

(Slow Motion 1)  
_When Leon saw Aerith stepping into the dent his reflexes kicked in. As Aerith placed her left foot on it and she immediately started losing balance. Leon looked at her with horror and bolted up from his seat. He climbed on the table, took two quick steps and jumped from the table. He caught falling Aerith and spun around in midair protecting Aerith from taking a hit. Leon landed hard and his back with Aerith on top of him.  
_(Slow Motion 1 Ends)

They both looked at each other with different intentions in mind. Aerith was dazed from what just happened while Leon was grunting his teeth as his throbbing back pain had started once again. It must have been more then a minute but Leon was still hugging Aer—oops, I mean Leon still had Aerith in his firm grip.

(Slow motion 2 from Yuffie's point of view)  
_After seeing Aerith, Yuffie turned around and was about to start eating. She took a full of cereals and was about to put in her mouth when she saw a shocked look on Leon's face. "Hmm… what's wrong" she would have asked that only if her mouth from free from all of that stuffing. She raised any eyebrow at Leon's reaction but suddenly Leon jumped on the table. Yuffie was totally baffled to see this. He took two steps on the table and jumped. Yuffie couldn't believe at what just happened next. When Leon took his second step to jump, he unknowingly (or at least she would like to believe that) stepped on Yuffie's bowl. Thanks to that, Yuffie was dripping from milk from her head to torso and few cereals sticking all over her.  
_(Slow Motion 2 Ends)

Take a bowl of milk and add some cereals to it and then pore that on Yuffie's head, imagine that. That same imagination had turned into a reality and for one minute Yuffie sat there motionless, trying to absorb what just happened.

After a minute or so an incensed Yuffie finally regained her senses. But her head almost blew up from what she saw next. Yuffie screamed, "Squall Leonhart, stop hugging Aerith and answer me now!"

As if a lightening had struck Leon, he let go of Aerith immediately. Leon stood up painfully and looked at Yuffie. Seeing a furious Yuffie with milk and cereals all over her was really a comic sight indeed, even for Leon, which enraging her further. "How dare you do this to me and then ignore me completely?" said teed off Yuffie.

Leon had no idea of what just happened so he just gave her a blank look in reply. "What happened?" asked flustered Aerith, trying her best not to laugh.

"What happened?" Yuffie copied her angrily. She was beat red with anger, "Ask your husband what happened"

Aerith looked at Leon but he just shook his head in reply.

Yuffie finally explained "_The milk and cereal bowl incident_" to Leon and Aerith. After some time, Aerith had finally managed to calm her down and was able to convince her that she can fight much better when she is not hungry. Aerith asked her to take a shower, eat and then fight with Leon. Somehow Aerith's pep talk was sinking in Yuffie's head so she agreed. Moreover she can never stay mad at Leon even if she wanted to and she absolutely hated herself for that.

"Yuffie go take a shower first, meanwhile I'll prepare some pancakes for you, okay?" Aerith asked politely. Yuffie nodded and ran upstairs, not before a making a face at Leon. Although tired, Aerith busied herself in cooking while Leon started polishing his gunblade.

Leon started in very uncertain tone, "Aerith, I … umm I am sorry for what just happened, I was just try to protect—" Aerith cut him off, "Its okay Leon, don't take it too seriously, I know that you didn't meant anything wrong" she said reassuring him.

Leon was relived to hear that. After few more silent moments Leon asked, "So, how did it go?"

"hmm?" Aerith's confusion was clearly visible on her face.

"I mean in the hospital. Is everyone okay?"

"Oh ya, they are doing much better now although didn't look very bright when I went there--" It was Leon's turn to interrupt now, "Let me guess, you saw their pain and suffering and went straight to work. Once they were out of the critical condition you finally decided to rest. But you could convince yourself to do it, not in such conditions, so you went back to work. And you wouldn't even have come back home if someone hadn't forced you to leave that place. Am I right?" Leon asked raising an eyebrow. Aerith looked away sheepishly to avoid his gaze. She started fiddling with the plates absentmindedly.

She brought the container and took a seat across Leon. He looked at her and said in his usual monotone, "Aerith, I respect your virtues and you selflessness to help others but you have to understand that you must help yourself first if you wish to help others."

'_Wow! A complement from LEON! Now that's something new_' she thought joyously.

It was easier to get complement from the entire world but it was much harder to get a compliment from Leon. Upon hearing these, Naturally Aerith was a bit proud a bit flustered at the same time.

Finally regaining her self-control, she passes on the food plate to Leon. He looked at the food and said, "Even though I know the answer, I am going to ask you any way, did you eat yesterday?"

Aerith looked down and started in an uncertain voice, "I was really busy at work—"

"Did you sleep?" Leon shoot another question at her. She just shook her head slowly, still looking down in her plate. "You know what happened last time, when you tried something like this, don't you?"

"I know, but I—" Aerith tried to defend herself but she was cut off by Leon once again, "Don't ever do it Aerith, at this rate you'll burn yourself out like last time."

Before Aerith or Leon could exchange anymore words Yuffie who was hiding behind the stairs jumped out and added, "Ya can't you see Aerith that Mr. Stoic is worried about you" she said teasingly, her angry mood almost disappearing.

Aerith quickly decided to change the topic as Yuffie join in for the breakfast. "So where is Eiko?"

"At Merlin's" replied Yuffie getting comfortable in a chair.

"And what about Cid?" she inquired further. Yuffie just shrugged help herself with some orange juice, so Leon replied this time, "I haven't seen him today, but I am going to his store later on so I'll check it out."

Aerith nodded and stood up to get something to drink from the fridge and on her way she asked, "By the way, that exactly happened to the floor?"

Just when Aerith opened the fridge's door someone opened the main door of the hotel as well. The timing was simply, perfect. "Aerrrrriiiiitttthhhhh" someone screamed her name. Aerith through dryly, '_What now?_' Leon also recognized the voice and had the same reaction too, '_What happened now?_' Yuffie chocked on her orange juice on hearing that voice. Her eyes widened in terror when she saw the intruder, '_Oh no no no no don't run, please!_'

"What is it Ms. Dorthy?" asked Aerith.

Dorthy clearly out of breath, replied "Its… its… Jaden"

* * *

**_Don't you think I at least deserve a review from you?_**


	13. Episode 13 Can it get any worst?

Can it get any worst?  
... ... ...

* * *

Just when Aerith opened the refrigerator's door, someone opened the main door of the hotel as well. The timing was simply, perfect. 

"Aerrrrriiiiitttthhhhh" someone screamed her name.

Recognizing the voice Aerith through dryly, '_What now?_' Leon also recognized the voice and had the same reaction, '_What happened now?_' Yuffie chocked on her orange juice on hearing that dreaded voice. Her eyes widened in terror when she saw the intruder, '_Oh no no no no not her again!_'

"What is it Ms. Dorthy?" Aerith said quickly approaching Dorthy.

Dorthy clearly out of breath, replied "Its… its… Jaden"

"Jaden!" Aerith exclaimed. "Did he get his head struck in a candy jar again?"

"No this time he fought with a bee… and lost!" Dorthy said finding it hard to believe her own words.  
_  
'Fought with a what?_' Leon thought shaking his head '_I must have heard it wrong_'

"In other words, he got stung by a bee?" Aerith interpreted.

"Correct" Dorthy nodded. "And you know what that means"

"That means I must come" she said, barely over a whisper but Leon heard it so he stated his thoughts, "Wait… why Aerith? Why can't anyone else help him?"

"The night shift people just left and the morning shift people are in the operation room. A major operation is taking place right now, so we need all the extra help we can get. Beside there aren't many people who could handle Jaden like Aerith can" Dorthy explained.

"Lets go, Ms. Dorthy" Aerith said forcing a smile on her face.

Aerith brushed past sitting Leon, but Leon caught her hand promptly. "You haven't eaten anything since last two days now, so don't use Curaga. To use it in this weakened state would damage you more then it would heal anyone else." Leon stated matter-of-factly.

"I'll be careful" she said suppressing a mirthless smile. Why wouldn't she smile? After all you rarely see Leon displaying his emotions. '_He is obviously concerned about me. Now that's now something you don't see often from Leon. I think it's my lucky day today_' she though as her smile broadened.

"Just don't over do it" Leon commanded. Leon's voice brought Aerith back from the la-la land. She whispered a quite "ok" before leaving.

Once Aerith left Leon immediately stood up and announced, "Let's go"

"Were?" asked Yuffie, still holding on to her orange juice.

"Let's go get Eiko" Leon stated picking up his gunblade.

"Hey but I haven't even finished my breakfast yet!" Yuffie screamed the obvious.

"We'll eat in café on our way back" he said opening the door.

"Sweeeeeeeet" Yuffie exclaimed, forgetting her appetite in an instance. "Let's go"

The journey to Merlin's house was surprisingly quite. Yuffie was busy deciding which food to order upon reaching the café, while Leon was silent as usual.  
Merlin's house was in visible range now but what was visible indeed visible was a very disturbing sight. Massive amount of smoke was coming out from all sides of the house. On inspecting it closely they could clearly see the smoke coming out from the windows, indicating the fire inside the house.

"Eiko!" Leon murmured as a sudden fear gripped him. Both Leon and Yuffie bolted towards the small house upon seeing this.

* * *

"AAARRRGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" A loud scream could be easily heard even outside of the hospital. But there was something strange about that scream which Aerith noticed immediately. 

She stopped dead in her tracks and asked the lady following her at some distance, "Did you hear that?"

"Sure did" replied Dorthy.

"That did not sound like Jaden at all" Aerith stated.

"Yes it sounds like—"

"Syrus?" Aerith questioned her.

Dorthy nodded in response.

"But why is he screaming?" Aerith said more to herself then to Dorthy.

"I don't know, let's go find out"

* * *

On getting closer they could see two people standing just by the door. Leon sighed in relief instantly on seeing Eiko. 

"Leon!" Eiko exclaimed happily.

"What… happ.. happened guys?" Yuffie asked after stopping, breathing heavily.

"Leon, I have a good news and a bad news for you. Tell me what would you like to hear first?" said Merlin, almost ignoring Yuffie's question.

"It doesn't matter because there is not such thing as good or bad, just different prospective" Leon said in his usual calm demeanor.

"The good news is that… your girl is exceptionally talented magic user. But the bad news is that her aim is horrible. We were practicing few spells here, I told her to aim at that tree but she missed her aim by only 20 feet, and setting my cottage a blaze."

'_Well, that wasn't as bad as I expected_' Leon thought getting a bit relived.

"Leon, I learned a really cool spell, here, let me show you" said Eiko excitedly.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" yelled terrified Merlin.

* * *

"Syrus, stop screaming already" someone yelled in his ears. A short boy wearing a yellow jacked, black trouser and glasses looked at the owner of the voice. "Mrs. Leonhart!" the boy named Syrus said with a smile. Aerith instinctively looked around, trying to figure out who was Syrus talking about. After few seconds it finally clicked her that SHE was Mrs. Leonhart. 

"I am so glad that you are here" Syrus said standing up.

"First of all tell me why were you screaming? I thought Jaden got stung by a bee, not you" Dorthy interrupted.

"Oh that… well Jaden got tired of screaming so he needed a break, so I was screaming on his behalf" he said pointing at his sleeping friend.

"Give me a break!" Aerith complained.

* * *

After setting few more things on fire Eiko was forcefully taken away by Leon. Yuffie filled her in with everything she had missed out on. Leon was quietly walking ahead of them, think of Aerith. Well actually... he was having a meeting with himself, St. Leon and D. Leon, collectively trying to figure out why he was thinking so much about Aerith lately. Before anyone could even realize, they were at the entrance of the café. 

Upon entering they took their sat on their regular table. A polite waiter approached them as asked, "What would you like to have sir?"

"The usual"

"Okay… and what about you mam?" he asked turning towards Yuffie who was really busy talking with Eiko. Since neither of them replied, Leon ordered their food as well, "Just make it, 'The usual' for… 'The usual'"

"Understood Sir" said the waiter before leaving.

Leon just sat their lost in his thoughts while Yuffie was still narrating everything to Eiko.

The chattering immediately stopped as the smell of food entered through Yuffie's nostrils. Within no time, Yuffie was ready to devour any food in her plate. Leon and Eiko too helped themselves.

The waiter came back after few minutes with the bill and few packages in his hands. He handed the bill to Leon and then said, "Here is your to-go, sir"

"Thank you" said Leon sincerely after tipping and paying everything off.

"Gee thanks Leon, first you order food for and then you even get a to-go for me. You are so sweet Leon!" Yuffie said with a wide grin.

"Actually this is for Cid and Aerith" Leon clarified.

"It is?" said Yuffie as all the traces of a smile completely disappeared.

Leon handed a to-go package to Yuffie and explained, "Listen, Eiko's school starts soon, so I want you to go to her school and get the list of all the books and the supplies we need for her. But before you do that, give this to Aerith before she faints. I just know that she is not coming back anytime soon."  
Yuffie mock saluted Leon and said,"Yes Sir"

"I am going to pay a visit to Cid. I have few things I want to ask him, so I'd be there is you need me" Leon said before leaving.

* * *

A boy with red coat, black trousers and spiky hair known as Jaden was in action as soon as he woke up, "Please Mrs. Leonheart you've got to help me. I've been stung by a bee." 

"Don't worry Jaden, We'll put some cream on it and it will be alright" Aerith said reassuringly.

"You will never find that bee. It must be miles away by now." Jaden objected.

"Umm… no… you didn't understand! I meant I'll put some cream on the place you were stung."

"Ohhhhhhh! It happened in the garden where I was sitting under a tree" Jaden replied confidently.

"Noooooo… I mean on which part of your body did that bee sting?" she asked trying her best not to get angry.

Jaden screamed first and then replied, "On my finger! The bee stung me on my finger and it really hurts"

"Which one?" she asked holding a tube in her hand.

"How am I to know? All bees look the same to me." Jaden replied after a thinking for a while.  
Aerith was on verge of pull her hair in absolute frustration.

* * *

If Leon saw a heartless turning into a human, it would certainly be surprising to him, but what he saw in front of his eyes was something even beyond surprising then that. There was a HUGE line in front of Cid's shop. This was something which Leon had never bothered to imagine, it was true. After pushing and nudging a bit, Leon finally made it to the entrance of the shop. Upon entering Leon quickly jumped behind the counter and made his way towards all-so-happy Cid. 

"What's all this commotion?" Leon yelled because of the noise around them.

"A (censored) sale doom" Cid said grinningly.

"What?" asked confused Leon.

"Too much to explain...cant do that right now, gotta get the (censored) customers first." Cid yelled back.

Squall was just standing their observing everything, but he was totally baffled by scene in front of his eyes. 'Why such a rush in an accessory shop? I don't know why, but I have a bad feeling about this. Can someone please tell me just what the heck is going on?'

Thankfully his prayers were quickly answered when someone came with a newspaper and pointed it to Cid, "If I win do I get to pick the date and the item? Or do you guys pick it?"

"We do" was a short reply from a very busy man.

But something which caught squall's attention in this conversation was the newspaper. In fact the section where that guy had pointed earlier had his picture with Aerith right below it. Leon leaned forwards and tried to read the contains in it but it was hard to read like that. Leon took the paper away from the guy and started reading it while he was busy buying stuff. The newspaper reads…

* * *

Upon entering the hospital, Yuffie and Eiko went straight into Aerith's cube. But unfortunately Aerith was not there. But fortunately for Eiko someone else was there… Jaden. 

"Hey have you seen Aerith?" asked Yuffie

"She went to look for a bee which stung me. She said she'll be back in half an hour, she I am waiting for her as well" Jaden replied innocently.

"A whattttttt?" uttered baffled Yuffie. She then looked at Eiko hopping that she might be able to figure out where Aerith had actually gone. But when she looked at Eiko, she found a statue instead. Eiko was totally mesmerized by the guy in front of her eyes.

"What the?" Yuffie's head had already started spinning.

"Eiko?"  
"…"  
"Eiko??"  
"…"  
"Eiko???"  
"…"

Jaden looked at the stun girl beside Yuffie and asked, "Is she alright?"  
"Oh…oh I am just fine, say do you believe in love at first sight?" Eiko said getting back into action.

"What???"

"Please tell me you believe in love a first sight because I think I am head over heels, in love with you"

"Did you say heal? Yes, my finger needs to be healed" said the charming young fellow.

"My heart need to be healed too" Eiko replied without missing a beat.

"Oh my gwad…" Yuffie almost fainted at the 'romantic scene' in front of her eyes.

* * *

The front page of the newspaper reads… 

_A Special Promotion from The Accessory Shop_

_For every gil you spend tomorrow, you will get a ticket with it.  
__And for every ticket you have, you get a chance to win.  
The winner gets to spend 5 days with the star couple of Leon and Aerith.  
Wait! There is more, one lucky winner would get a souvenir from the accessory shop.  
It could be anything from Aerith's ribbon to Leon's Gunblade!  
So the more tickets you have, the better your chance of winning.  
__It's a one day, onetime event so don't miss it.  
It's not worth missing it as we have tons of other prices and surprises waiting for you.  
So make your gil count!  
-- Cid Highwind_

Getting angry Leon slammed the newspaper on the table on was about to explode on Cid. But just as he was about to turn around to give Cid a piece of his mind, he read his name on the back of the paper as well. He took a deep breath and picked it up again, this time it was message from this self-proclaimed best friend, Sheppard.

* * *

After waiting for few minutes, Yuffie finally decided to look for Aerith. In fact, she just wanted to get away from Eiko and her newly acquired boyfriend. Yuffie left the food in her cube and started looking for Aerith. 

She eventually found her when she saw a bright light. "I thought he told you specifically not to use Curaga" Yuffie said getting closer to Aerith.

Her voice naturally startled her, she turned around and smiled sheepishly, "Oops sorry! The rest of the staff is not back yet and he needed to be healed, besides I am perfectly fine."

"Nope... gotta tell Squall" Yuffie said shaking her head sideways.

"Oh come one now... Please!" Aerith requested.

"May be, I'll--" Yuffie suddenly stopped in mid-sentence. "Oh yah, that boy in your office told me that you went to look for a bee!"

"Oh that... well I had to say it to keep him quite." Aerith said with a smile. "So what brings you here anyway?"

"Your husband" came the swift reply.

"Come on, lets talk on the way" said Aerith who was on her hourly check up. Yuffie tagged along with Aerith.

"So what about Leon?" Aerith inquired.

"He send me to deliver some fo—" Yuffie stopped in mid sentence when she saw bunch of guys moving a patient from one room to the another. Upon seeing this, her eyes immediately lit up.

Aerith who was walking ahead of her stopped and looked at Yuffie, "Anything wrong?"

"Oh my gwad, I totally forgot to tell you about our rooms!" Yuffie said with a grin.

From there on, Yuffie explained everything to Aerith. Since she was really busy in last two days, she had missed out on many things, so Yuffie filled her in with all the information necessary (and unnecessary).

* * *

He took a deep breath and picked it up again, this time it was message from this self-proclaimed best friend, Sheppard. 

_To my fellow citizens of Traverse Town, I have a little in plan. Initially I was thinking about getting out revenge on Leon for not inviting us all on his wedding but I just realized something that there is just no way that we can get our revenge on them. Think about it, what if they decide not to protect this town anymore? We would be in deep trouble if that happens, so instead we are gonna celebrate it... Celebrate what, when and how? Check tomorrow's newspaper for more details._

'_Great, from a frying pan, into a fire. Can it get any worst?_' Leon sighed. But he suddenly looked up and smirked, '_But it can certainly get better. I'll take care of Sheppard later, but now, Cid you are on_'

* * *

By the time their round of check up was finished, Aerith knew everything that had happed during her absence. On their return they found Eiko totally engrossed in Jaden. 

Yuffie had to practically drag her out of the cube.

"Good bye my love, this cruel world might separate us for now, but we'll meet again. I promise" Eiko said to Jaden who was pretty much clueless about the fact that Eiko was talking to him.

By the end of their so called conversation, Eiko practically knew everything about Jaden, from his favorite candy to the size of his boxers, everything. Heck; may be she knew more about Jaden then he did himself.

After the dramatic departure of Eiko, Jaden switched his attention towards Aerith. "So Mrs. Leonhart did you find the bee?"  
"I… umm… sort of… umm…"

* * *

Leon grabbed Cid by his collar and took him the back of the shop. "Just what hell did you do that for?" Leon asked getting frustrated. 

"Hey my sale was jacked up by 400 percent" Cid said with no remorse whatsoever.

"We are already having hard time trying to keep everything covered and you just worsened out situation. And as if that wasn't enough you even had the audacity to put MY gunblade on the line? What the hell were you thinking Cid?" Leon said letting out his anger.

"Exactly, what didn't I think about it earlier" Cid said with a self-satisfied smirk on his face.

Leon slammed his hand against his forehead, getting frustrated by minute, "This is hopeless. Who need enemies when you have friends like you."  
Angry and frustrated Leon is a very lethal and dangerous combination. So Cid decided to divert Leon's attention on other matter, "Oh forget about that I did, think about what HE did"

"Who?"

"The reporter, who else" Cid said after pulling out a straw from his mouth.

"What?" Leon said, still a bit confused.

"Didn't you read that article from the random reporter?"

"What article? Do you mean the one from Sheppard?" Leon inquired.

"No… I mean by that (censored) reporter, who like to call himself, 'The Random Reporter'"

"Cid, what are you talking about?" Leon asked for details.

"Remember Sid and his team? Out of his nine men, one (censored) (censored) was a low life (censored) reporter in disguise. He was able to extract some (censored) juicy information from his visit and came up with a very wack story from it."

Cid picked up a newspaper lying on his desk and flipped few pages, "Here… take a look"

Leon snatched the newspaper from his hand and stated read an article which was labeled as "Trouble in Paradise"


	14. Episode 14 Line of Control

**! Line of Control !  
...**

**

* * *

**Leon took a deep breath and took the newspaper in his hands. He leaned back against the wall and started read the article labeled as 'The Trouble in Paradise'. 

The reporter had described everything there was to describe; from number of shoes Aerith owns to the color of socks Leon wears. Everything was described with utmost precision. But he didn't stop there; he went on and published his own version of the story about things not going smoothly between Leon and Aerith. But the worst part was that he had supported his story with many '_evidence_', hence making it more believable.

The closing of the article was: _"Even though they say that they've been married for last three years, they don't even leave in the same room! Leon lives in green room while Aerith lives in the red room. Even their interaction (in public at least) is hardly of a couple. Even their best friends (Mr. Sheppard) didn't know about their wedding until recently. After putting all the pieces together, the picture is still very unclear. There is definitely trouble in paradise, things are not how they look like, and further investigation is required."_

"Great, now some idiot is hell bent of making my life public" Leon said crossly after reading the article.

Leon banged his head against the wall. "Dam it! How did I get into all this mess? All I ever wanted was to be left alone" he said as he slid down against the wall. "Just to protect one lie we are constantly making new lies"

Leon just sat there motionless, lost deep in thoughts. Cid risked a glance in Leon's direction and immediately his smile disappeared.

* * *

Both Eiko and Yuffie were pacing across the room. They both came to a conclusion that Leon must move out of the green room, but the how to kick him out of his own room was something to ponder.

* * *

Aerith started to feel very lightheaded after using yet another Curaga. Everything started swirling around her so she grabbed on to the nearest object for the support. Everything stabilized after few seconds. She knew that she had pushed herself to the limit this time and pushing it any further could be lethal. Besides, she had no intentions of facing Leon's wrath, so she decided to return back to their so called 'home'. 

But much to her dismay, thunder boomed in the sky overhead.

* * *

He was charging his '_Fire_' spell to unleash it on the hoard of heartless, but after a stentorian thunder the sky fell apart and the torrent begin. 

"Dam" he cursed at his luck. He was relying solely on magic as his gunblade was lying few feet away from him. But thanks to the untimely downpour he could not use his fire spell anymore and the worst part was that he no way to defend himself.

The knife like claws sliced through his right shoulder, immediately exposing his flesh. Two more heartless took the advantage of Leon's momentarily lasp and attacked him injuring him further. Unfortunately he had no time to even yelp in pain as three more heartless were ready to strike him down.

Leon dodge rolled from the attack and quickly reclaimed his gunblade. He was bleeding from his right shoulder and the amounting pain required his attention. But he decided to ignore the pain for time being so that he could finish off the fight.

Leon switched his gunblade in his left hand and counter attacked. But unfortunately, as the rain keep on increasing, so did the heartless. More and more heartless were popping out of every direction. Within matter of seconds Leon was completely surrounded by the heartless. The memories of Hollow Bastion flooded back into his mind.

His efficiency was greatly hampered by his injury.

Initially Leon came here from Cid's shop to take out his frustration. But his current situation was even more frustrating. Leon realized that this was a desperate situation and he would need to take desperate measures to overcome this adversity.

"Time to finish this fight" He closed his eyes for a moment and channeled his energy. Soon a faint glowing light surrounded him as the energy reached its highest peak: its Limit.

After an eery silence, the injured lion let out a threatening roar.

Red light surrounded Lionheart as glowing energy formed around his gunblade. He leaped forward at the group of heartless, a trail of white energy passing behind him and his weapon as Squall himself glowed a faint red, empowered by his unique Limit, Renzokuken.

Within seconds more then a dozen of heartless were dismantled. But the best was yet to come. Squall launched himself up into the air, pirouetted with the gunblade extended, and released a disc of massive energy which exploded in all direction engulfing every enemy nearby. This limitbreak is known as, Fated Circle.

Squall gracefully landed back on the ground, still in his trance. He looked around and found nothing but bunch of munny orbs.

"This is bad" he said to himself. '_There strength and numbers keeps on increasing_' he thought analyzing the situation. '_At this rate a major catastrophe might not be far. I think I should warn the king about it._'

His thought process was forced to stop by the throbbing pain. He crouched down as another serge of pain ran through his body, '_Dam it; this might take a while to heal. An injury just a week before the tournament. Can it get any worst? (sigh) I can always count on my bad luck._'

After collecting all the munny orbs Leon left the third district. He was initially planning to go back to the hotel but he changed his plans midway. He had no intentions of facing Aerith overprotective, over concerned, over possessive wrath. Heck if she finds out, she won't even let him step out of the hotel at his current condition. So he needed to cover things up, I mean literally too. So he decided to pay a visit to good ol Merlin.

* * *

Aerith was still sitting by the window waiting for the rain to stop. Although physically she wasn't doing much, mentally she was exhausted from overexertion. Her mind kept on floating back and forth between her past and her presence. To put it bluntly, it kept on going back and forth between Cloud and Squall. 

These sort of thought often ends up making her depress. But luckily her stomach came to the rescue as it demanded her attention. Unknown of the fact the Yuffie left some food in her cube; she decided that the closed source for good food would be none other then the hotel. Hospital food was a strict no no. Aerith was finally at the point were her food and got priority over getting wet. She was too hungry and too tired to care about the downpour. So she decided to go back to the hotel.

* * *

"You big jerk how could you do such a thing to moogles?" screamed Eiko. 

"Hey it was (censored) one day deal, all right" Cid said raising his hands in defense.

"I don't care... they are tired, exhausted, underpaid, misused moogles. I can't take it anymore" Eiko protested.

"SOOOO????" Cid leaned forward towards her trying to intimidate her.

"So I have decided that they won't work for you anymore" Eiko yelled, getting up on her toes, trying to match Cid's intensity.

All the moogles in the background stood in attention position and said at once, "We quit kupo!"

"Nooooooooooooooooo" Cid kept his hands on his head and said, "Nooooooooooooo", trying to generate a dramatic effect.

Eiko stomped upstairs with moogles behind trailing.

Leon, who was standing by the door, watched the whole scene with a glimmer of amusement.

Leon walked in quietly and saw Cid sulking in his chair. Leon's temper suddenly flared up, upon recalling Cid's 'advertising campaign'. He wanted to give Cid, piece of his mind.

Leon approached Cid, ready to lace at him but Cid looked really down in the dumps. So Leon was forced to reconsider his actions, '_Lions don't feast on someone's leftovers. I'll let Cid recover first and then hunt him down._'

Squall took a seat opposite to Cid's. No one said anything for few minutes. '_Man I really wanted to torture this guy for what he did but… he really looks down. Guy I should leave him alone...for now at least._'

Few more minutes passed without any exchange of words. The only sound that was audible was coming from upstairs. Leon decided to ignore that for time being.

"So how did the sale go?" Leon tried to start a conversation.

"Everything… Sold out" came a monotonous reply.

"I see"

After a while the conversation continued, "So why are you so down?" Leon asked, pretending that he didn't see anything.

"All my employees quite! What am I going to do now?" Cid said slightly banging his head on the table.

Leon leaned back in his chair, "Hey don't worry, they will be back to normal tomorrow"

"I know that but… but I need them today to clean up the (censored) mess"

Leon stood up from his chair. "Well tough luck buddy" he shrugged nonchalantly and turned away.

'_Tough luck! Wait till you go upstairs and find out what 'tough luck' really looks like_' Cid thought looking at Leon as he made his way to his room.

Leon was just by the stairs when he heard flared up Eiko screaming at someone, "Hey it goes there in that closet, not there you idiot"

He had barely taken few steps when he heard her again, "No no no move her stuff in the other drawer"

Couple of more steps and Eiko was in action yet again, "And you stop stalling around and get back to work"

"Yes maam came the reply from all the moogles"

Leon gulped and took few hesitant steps forwards and saw bunch of moogles running back and forth between the green room to the red room. Suddenly his eye caught something the moogles were carrying '_Wait a minute that's my jacket...and my shoes...and my t-shirt...and my box--..._'

"What the hell?" the words slipped out of his mouth.

He rushed up to the moogles just to get bumped with incoming Yuffie from the green room. "Oouch!" the ninja yelled as she fell back. Yuffie looked up still rubbing her head.

Leon was about to say something when he heard Eiko speak from the red room, "Good job everyone. That should do it. And nowwww its time for US to go clean MY room."

"US! That's not right kupo! It should be more like, 'Now I will go and clean my room' kupo!"

Eiko kept her hand on her hips and leaned forwards to wards moogles, "What did you say?"

"I am tired kupo!" complained the first moogles.

"Ya same here kupo" said the second one.

"Yup I agree kupo" supported the third one.

The first moogles turned around and asked his teammates, "I can't take it anymore, should we do it kupo?"

"Ya I am up for it kupo. At least we get paid there" said the second one.

"Yup count me in kupo" supported the third one.

Mustering all the courage the first moogles said, "umm… Eiko… we… you know… sort of… umm… kind of… quit"

"WHAT???" yowled Eiko and immediately started to look for something but couldn't find what she was looking for, so she grabbed the next best thing a, a frying pan ... All the moogles jumped up in surprise.

"I fought with Cid and got you out of there and this is how you repay me?" barked angry Eiko as she raised the frying pan above her head.

(Eiko is a moogles lover. She could never hurt moogles even if she tried. She was just trying to scare them, that's all.)

"Run kupo, run!" warned the first moogles as they all started running around and a leather Eiko chasing them down.

They were all just running around in circles until on moogles suggested, "To the shop kupo."

With that all the moogles ran out of the door with Eiko still chasing them. Leon and Yuffie were still standing by the door, dumbstruck at the scene in front of them.

Eiko rushed out to attack the moogles but unfortunately she was swapped off her feet… not by her knight in shining armor… but by… Leon.

Next thing Eiko realized was that she was 4 feet off the ground. She frantically tried to get out of Squall's grip but he simple pulled her up with one hand and brought her to his eye level.

"Just what the heck is going on here?" Leon demanded, "Explain to me?"

Eiko sighed as she realized that there was no way out of his grip and even if she did manage to get out somehow, the moogles would be out of her reach now.

Cid say moogles running out of the hotel and wondered what could have cause that. So to investigate the matter further he decided to take a walk upstairs.

"Now that your love story is on the verge of getting busted its not safe for you to stay in the green room... you have to move in with Aerith in red room... so we moved all your stuff into the red room too, aren't we nice?" She said batting her lashes innocently.

Leon dropped her absentmindedly and put his hand on his forehead in his trademark style. "Yup we even asked Aerith if she was fine with it" Yuffie pepped in.

Leon sighed, '_She would say yes to anything… but that's beside the point, I don't want to move in with her... what if...what if'_

Leon shook his head knowing that think about 'what if' wont get him anywhere, he must think about 'what next' instead.

Well to be honest Leon had thought about that too. He knew that sooner of later this was bound to happen.

But still, Leon wasn't ready to move in just yet. His mind was running at its max capacity trying to figure a way out of this... his thoughts were a jumble. '_Even thought all my stuff is in the red room I could always go sleep in the green room...right? ... Wrong that stupid bunker bed is too small… dam it._'

After thing about bunch of different possibilities he came to a dreadful conclusion, "Guess I'll have to move in the red room after all."

Cid snickered from behind and patted him on his back, "Thought luck buddy."

Cid walked away from the scene happily.

"Well that's settled" Eiko said with a sigh of relief. "You bet" Yuffie agreed.

Yuffie waved Leon a cheerful goodbye and Eiko did the same as the both run in to the green room.

"Later" Cid's voice came from the distance as he walked away whistling happily.

Everyone left leaving Leon all alone.

* * *

Leon leaned his against the (red room's) door, turned around and slid down wearily. 

He assessed his current situation and slammed his head against the door in frustration, "Anything wrong Leon?" he heard a voice soon after.

Completely drenched Aerith walked in looking like a zombie, a beautiful zombie that is.

"Everything" he replied.

Aerith had a faint idea of what he was referring too. After all it was hard to figure out that Leon was thinking, especially when you have lived with him for so many years.

"Its okay Leon, we'll figure it out somehow" she tried to say it as cheerfully but her weariness was evident in her voice.

Leon was tired of thinking and just wanted to go to sleep so he can forget everything. He stood up and moved out of the way and allowed Aerith to enter first.

The room sure looked different and it would surely take some time to adjust to it. Both Leon and Aerith looked around at the newly renovated room. Aerith was fascinated to see her new royal canopy bed. She looked at everything with child like amusement. Leon glanced at her and wondered, '_She is taking it much better then I thought she would_'.

A sudden surge of pain ran through his shoulder forcing him to take support from stand next to the bed. Aerith noticed the change in expression on Leon's face and asked with a concerned tone, "Anything wrong Leon?"

"Oh nothing, I am just tired that's all" Leon tried to play it off. He fell flat on the bed and closed his eyes as Aerith just watched him.

Suddenly Aerith started sneezing left and right. Leon opened his eyes and stated the obvious "I think you should get changed first and then worry about the rest"

"Oops, I thought I was forgetting something" she said smiling sheepishly. With that she grabbed a pair of cloths and went to change.

Leon suddenly bolted up from the bed and started searching for something frantically.

"Where is it? Where is it?" he uttered as he emptied few drawers. After going through almost everything he finally found what he was looking for.

Upon finding it he held it up triumphantly like a first prize trophy in Olympic. He slowly brought his prized possession closer to his face and took pulled the lead off.

The thing he was searching for was his… marker.

With marker in his hand, Leon began his artwork. He took few measurements and drew a straight line in the middle of the bed-sheet, dividing it into two equal half.

He was almost done with it when Aerith walked out and saw it. She asked and obvious question, "What are you doing?"

"Diving out space" came a simple reply.

"What?" Aerith asked in confusion.

"Don't worry" he called for Aerith to come closer, "Come here, I'll explain it to you"

"Okay this bed is definitely too big for us...and that's a good thing… So as you can see I divided it into two parts, you can sleep on the right side of the bed and I sleep on the left side of it" he explained.

"Ohhh, I get it" Aerith exclaimed.

"Its called LOC; The Line of control. You don't cross into my territory and I wont cross into you territory, we both have to respect it the LOC" Leon explained it further getting a bit more technical.

"Yes Sir" she said with a mock salute.

"Good" he said and sat down on his side of the bed.

Now Aerith had to make a decision, to sleep or to eat. She hadn't done either of those in last two days. So after debating with herself for a while she finally decided that sleep was her priority.

Leon assumed that Aerith must have eaten the food he had sent with Yuffie earlier so he didn't bother to ask that and fell flat on his side of the bed.

They both slept side by side thinking about different things. Aerith soon fell asleep as she was dead tired but Leon on the other hand was struggling to sleep. Somehow he was very very uncomfortable with the idea of sharing a room with Aerith. After much twisting, tossing, turning for about an hour, he finally went to sleep.

Aerith, accustomed of having the entire bed to her since last nine years, was the first one to breach the LOC. In her sleep she crossed over to Leon's territory.

Aerith usually rolls around the bed in her sleep while Leon once asleep was as good as a log, in fact even log would get jealous of him.

Aerith was felling cold and was shivering beneath her blanket... she flung her left hand in her sleep and it fell on something warm, without caring what its was move closer to it.

By the early morning her head was lying on Leon's chest and her arms were tightly wrapped around the sleeping log… oops I mean Leon.

Leon on the other hand was revisiting his past. All the scenes, all the pain, all the memories came back to him one by one. The visions of the past; his nightmare was revisiting him. Soon he woke up from his nightmare, just to walk into another nightmare.

As soon as he opened his eyes he found someone was sleeping very uncomfortably close to him.

Not once did he ever scream because of the nightmares but he was about to do just that. He wasn't sure which nightmare was scarier, the one he envisioned in his sleep or the one he experienced after waking up. So Leon did something which he had never don't before, scream.

You naturally wake up when someone you are sleeping on screams loudly. Aerith moved away from him and was barely able to open her eyes.

"What do you think you are doing?" yelled Leon.

"Sleeping" she said in her semi-stupor state.

"Let's be more precise here, you are sleeping on MY side" he said, "You crossed the LOC"

"That's it?" said the half asleep girl. "You woke me up to say that?"

"What do you mean that's it—" Leon said still furious.

"Whatever" she said cutting him off and falling right back into the bed going to sleep instantly.

Leon sighted and stood up from the bed. It was around 5 so he decided to go for some training. After all he had to prepare for the tournament and injury was not an excuse to slack off. So after completing his morning rituals he went straight for his training ground.

* * *

Surprisingly enough he was joined by Yuffie around 8. 

"Where is Aerith?" he asked.

"Sleeping I guess" Yuffie replied with a shrug.

"Hmm" he expression changed a bit and it was immediately picked up by Yuffie, "Worried about her aren't ya?" she asked teasingly.

"No just inquiring, she wasn't feeling good last night" he said monotonously.

"Ya ya whatever lover boy" she said flinging her suriken at him.

Leon deflected her attack and added, "Shut up, will you?"

Their little sparing session continued for a while before Leon spoke again, "Where is Eiko?"

"At Merlin's" she said dodging Leon's gunblade.

"Why?" he asked.

"Practicing few spells" she said counter attacking.

Leon suddenly pulled out of the battle. "Now that's a good surprise. Why sudden interest in training may I ask?"

"Well I don't want to screw up in tournament you know" she replied honestly. "And Eiko just couldn't pass a chance to blow few things up at Merlin's" she said with her toothy grin.

* * *

Aerith had finally roused from sleep around 10. She stood up lazily and stretched a bit. But suddenly she felt very dizzy and collapsed on the ground unconscious.

* * *

After an hour of training they decided to return back to the hotel. 

Both Leon and Yuffie were surprised no to see Aerith in the kitchen. So Yuffie helped herself with milk and cereals while Leon decided to check on Aerith first.

He went upstairs and slowly entered the room. But what he found might give him nightmares for rest of his life. "Oh my god" He rushed to Aerith's side and immediately checked her pulse. She was unconscious and would require some medical attention. He scooped her up and ran to the hospital.

Yuffie saw him carrying Aerith somewhere and decided to follow. She too ran after him with a bowl of milk and cereals in her hand.

Leon called for the doctor and everyone came in when they knew that their patient was none other then Aerith.

They immediately took her away and told Leon and Yuffie to wait outside. Leon stayed at the hospital while Yuffie had called Cid, Merlin and Eiko.

* * *

It was around 1pm when the doctor finally came out. The doctor came up to Leon with a big smile on his face, which worried Leon. '_Something is not right_' Leon crossed his figures hopping for the best. 

"Is she alright?" asked obviously concerned Cid.

"She is doing fine, nothing serious" doctor replied with a smile.

"What happened to her?" asked Leon.

"Do you really want to know that?" asked the doctor instead.

'_I do not like this at all. Something is wrong; I can feel it._' Leon thought.

"Come on tell us already" Yuffie demanded, "What's wrong with her?"

"All right, all right. She is…" the good doctor paused longer then usual to generate a dramatic effect. "She is pregnant!"

"You are kidding" Leon said in utter disbelief.

"Congratulation Leon, you are going to become a father!" said the doctor adding an insult to the injury.

Needless to say, it was the first time ever anyone had ever seen, the brave, courageous and mighty Squall Leonhart faint.


	15. Episode 15 Defending the Innocence!

**!... Defending the innocence ...!  
... ... ...**

* * *

The ill-fated commander Leonhart was carried inside on a stretcher. Ironically enough his was placed in a bed right next to Aerith's.

Aerith rolled on her side opening her tired eyes very slightly. She faintly saw few people carrying a guy clad in black who looked a lot like Squall. No sooner had her brain processes the information she bold right up. The person lying in the next bed did not just look like Squall, but it was indeed Squall.

"Now, now, take is easy will you?" said someone placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Wh-What happened to him?" she stuttered almost in panic.

"Relax" the nurse said. "It's nothing major."

"Looks like he couldn't handle _'the news'_" nurse on the other end said giggling.

"I-I don't understand. Please tell me that happened to him?" Aerith pleaded.

"Oh come on now, don't act as if you don't know anything" nurse behind Aerith said tapping her shoulder.

'_What are these people talking about?_' she asked herself.

"Or may be she just want to hear the pleasant news again" nurse on the opposite end suggested jokingly.

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you what happened to him and to you" nurse behind agreed.

"Ready? Hold your breath…"  
'_Just say it already_' Aerith thought dryly.

"Leon is going to be father!" she said clasping her hands together happily.

"Oh that's it?" Aerith said letting out a big sigh. "And here I thought it was serious like an injury or something."

Aerith sure surprised everyone in the room by her reaction to '_the news_'.

"Aren't YOU happy about it Aerith?" asked the nurse next to her still a bit baffled.

"Of course I am happy. Why would I be happy? Leon is going to be father" Aerith said clasping her hands in excitement.

'_Imagine a little baby Squall running around the house… haha… that would be funny… I'd love to see that._'

THEN it finally clicked her. '_Wait…wait…just wait a minute… If Leon is going to be father then that means… I…I…I am going to be… Oh my god…_'

As dreadful at it may sound, Aerith still had to confirm what she thought was true. Gathering all her courage she started, "So that means I am going to be… mother?" She asked hopping that she was wrong. But much to her dismay everyone in the room nodded with grin.

"Oh god… this cant be happening" she said placing her hands on her head before collapsing in her bed.

"Ohh how cute, they even faint together" said the nurse standing next to Aerith's bed getting a bit overly animated.

* * *

After 10 minutes or so Aerith had finally recovered from the 'shock'.

She sat up in her bed still holding her hand with both hands.

Within a minute or two she heard bunch of footsteps but didn't bother to check who it was. The sound of footsteps was becoming louder by moment and suddenly the noise stopped. Aerith looked up and immediately Yuffie flung her arms around her, "Oh congratulation Aerith"

"And here I thought you guys were just ACTING" Eiko said with her hands on her hips.

"Ya, you sure took me by a surprise. I did not know that you and Leon were SERIOUSLY involved. But hey, I am happy for ya. I wouldn't have it any other way you hear?" Cid said honestly with a smile.

"Oh what an auspicious news, if it weren't for my old then I'd be dancing right now" Merlin said spinning his wand, which glittered in various colors as he moved it.

After much struggle Aerith was finally able to pull Yuffie off of her.

"Hmm this is strange… you are the mother… yet Leon is the one who is in the bed" Merlin stated his confusion.

"Hmm such is the nature of true love. May be I am just too old to understand it." Merlin waved it off before anybody got a chance to add any comments.

"Man this Leon is something. You guys spend one night together and you are expecting the next morning. Dam that's fast." Cid said teasingly. It's a good thing that Leon is unconscious and he didn't hear that, or else Cid would by lying in that bed instead of him.

Aerith shook her head vigorously, "No no no nothing like that ever happened between us and I am NOT pregnant either, this is all a big mistake"

"Ha ha no point in hiding. The doctor told us that you are pregnant" Yuffie said grinning like always.

"No that can't be. It's impossible because I never did anything like that!" Aerith almost screamed in frustration.

"Ya ya deny it all you want but reports don't lie you know?" Yuffie said persistently.

"Yup and that Dorky (Dorthy) lady even showed us the reports and according to it you are pregnant, so we are going to stick with it, unless proven innocent" Eiko said supporting Yuffie like always.

She started in a pleading voice, "Believe me Cid nothing like that ever happened between us and I am NOT pregnant."

"But the reports—" Cid argued.

"I don't care what the reports says, if I am pregnant then I should be the first to know that and I know I am not pregnant so drop it already" she said furiously. Needless to say this was the first time many people saw her getting angry.

But the worst was yet to come as Leon had finally started to move.

* * *

The lord of the underworld was pacing impatiently outside the coliseum. "If I do that then that is bound to happen. But what if that doesn't work out, then in that case that would not work since that is not part of that contract so that could create a big mess and that would be hard to solve becasue of that thing which is not suppose to be there." His hair were burning red, you can say that his head was on fire, literally.

Unfortunately his extremely important and utterly unpleasant dilemma came to an abrupt halt when someone demanded his attention.

"Umm excuse me…"

"Yessssss" the god of the underworld said turning his head in the direction of the voice.

"Have you seen a guy with a spiky hair?" asked a girl clad in black.

* * *

Cid had known Aerith since she was 4 years old and he could clearly tell when Aerith is lying and when she is being honest. From what Aerith said earlier, he knew that something might be wrong even though evidence speak against it.

Leon was gradually coming around. Cid and Merlin looked at each other and nodded in an unspoken agreement. Both of them slowly backed away from the bed and stood right by the door.

Judging from Aerith's earlier outburst they knew that somehow Leon's reaction would involve using his gunblade so it was better to stand at safe distance when the beast awakens. If what Aerith said was true then Leon won't hesitate to slice the next person, to congratulate him, into pieces.

But Yuffie and Eiko, ignorant as always, hugged Leon and started congratulating him as soon as he opened his eyes.

"What the…" Leon pushed both of them aside. "What was that for?"

"Oh so you wanna play dumb huh… Daddy" Eiko said emphasizing on the word daddy.

"What?" Leon asked in confusion.

"You are going to be a father dummy" Yuffie said with her toothy grin.

Leon slowly looked at Aerith and all the events that had happened so far rushed back to him.

Aerith simply shook her head in response, looked into his eyes and then looked down solemnly. Leon interpreted her silence and knew what to do.

* * *

"Have you seen a guy with a spiky hair?" asked a girl clad in black.

"Why certainly" Hades said with a grin, pointing a thumb at himself. "I have the most spikiest hair of 'em all. I have the gravity defying, mind blowing, super strong, ultra sharp, insanely cool looking, dual color hair among all the living and dead creatures on this planet… I am… The Lord of the underworld… I am… Hades…"

After taking a beep breath, "So, you looking for me?" he asked.

"Um… actually… no…" she replied hesitantly. "I am looking for someone named Cloud"

"Cloud?" he asked narrowing his eyes.

The girl in black nodded in reply.

_Now this could be interesting…very interesting

* * *

_

Leon jumped out of his bed and scanned his surrounding. His eyes rested on a solo nurse in the room. Pushing Yuffie and Eiko out of his way he approached the nurse and asked in not so friendly tone, "Where is the doctor?"  
"He-he is in the operation room right now" she stuttered.

Leon nodded and made his way towards the door which leads to the main hall. He saw Cid and Merlin standing by the door. Cid was about to open his mouth but a look into Squall's eyes convinced him otherwise. Ignoring both of them for time being Squall just passed by.

His destination was set and there was no force strong enough to stop this squall. The two guards standing outside the operation theater saw this on coming squall.

"Is he coming this way?" asked the guard on the left.

"Sure looks like it" his buddy replied from the other end.

The look on Leon's face told them that it was not worth risking their live in an on coming storm.

Mustering all his courage the guard on the left asked his companion, "Should we stop him?"

"Are you crazy? No job pays enough to die." The guard on the right tried to reason it out, "Besides the operation is over anyway."

"Good call" he agreed.

"Hey… oh… ya… be right there" the right guard started randomly.

"Um… there is no body around. Are you talking to with yourself again?" he asked.

"Just shut up and play along" right guard scolded his partner. "Wait I'll help" he screamed to no one in particular, but made sure his voice was loud enough to be heard behind the door. Without waiting for another second he rushed towards the door with his friend in tag.

With no guards in sight Leon kicked open the door to the operation theater. Next few seconds were like a blur to everyone. Once the element of surprise settled down, the doctor found himself 3 feet off the ground and pinned to wall. Leon had firm grip on doctor so there was no escaping.

"Where are Aerith's reports?" he asked in a menacing voice.

The doc moved his lips but no words came out it as he was almost choked by Leon's grip.

A nurse quickly shuffled through a pile of paper and immediately gave it to Leon upon finding them.

Leon let go of doc and grabbed the reports. He flipped pages after pages scanning everything in detail. After going through the whole report he concluded, "These are not Aerith's reports"

"Wh-what?" stuttered the nurse who gave him the reports. "I am 100 per cent positive, this is Aerith's file."

"Yes, it has Aerith's name on it but these are not Aerith's reports" he said firmly.

"How can you be so sure about it?" she asked.

"Last time Aerith fainted, was because of Orthostatic hypotension, which is sudden fall in blood pressure, but according this reports she had very high blood pressure which is certainly not possible."

'_Besides I know Aerith is innocent… she hasn't done anything like… umm… I mean I am sure she is not pregnant_'

Leon shook his head and snapped out of his momentary laps.

He turned around and looked at still baffled doctor, "I want you to do new reports for her… NOW". His tone left no room for objection.

Upon hearing that, the staff rushed out with a medical kit to collect some blood sample.

Leon was about to leave but he stopped and turned around, "Doc, one more thing"

The doctor gulped not knowing what to expect.

"I am sorry"

* * *

"Hey, hey, Cloud" Hades said a devilish smile.

"What do you want?" Cloud said without any interest.

"Now, now that's no way to treat a friend…" he said pointing his finger at Cloud. "I've got some information which you might like to hear."

"I have already heard enough from you, I don't want to hear anything more" Cloud said without even looking at him.

"Oh well… too bad." Hades shrugged and spun around and started walking away, "I thought you might be interested in hearing something about the light or perhaps the darkness."

"Wait…" he called. "What is it?"

Hades snickered devilishly.

* * *

Leon quietly walked back to the room hoping that everything would be smoothly now. But what he saw upon entering was something he had not expected. A whole bunch of people were standing around Aerith. Leon raised and eyebrow, asked Cid what was going on?

Cid released a long sigh and summed up the situation in just two words, "Aerith… needles…"

Leon smacked his forehead in his trademark style.

Leon stepped up and requested everyone to leave the room for a minute or two. Everyone did as they were told.

Aerith fell back on her bed, tiredly. Leon walked up to her bed and knelled down besides it.

"Funny how they say, '_Everyone is innocent until proven guilty_'" Aerith turned on her side and was now face to face with Leon.

"In out case, it's the exact opposite. We are guilty until proven innocent." Aerith nodded slightly.

"Now it's up to you to prove your innocence, our innocence." Aerith just closed her eyes in response.

Leon stood up and offered a hand to Aerith. "Come on sit down"

She obliged and swung her legs freely as she sat on the edge. Leon sat similarly on the bed next to it (his bed few minutes ago).

"Let me tell you a little story" he said. Which naturally took Aerith by surprise, as it was so unlike Leon to do such a thing.

"Give me your hands" he said uncharacteristically.

"Huh?" expression on her face said more then her words ever could.

"I said give me your hands" he repeated.

Aerith extended her hands and Leon took her hands in his.

"Now close your eyes"

She was naturally baffled by Leon's sudden change in behavior by she complied by his wishes.

"Now imagine… that you are standing with your family and all your loved ones…. But suddenly the darkness surrounds you all… slowly everything around you is engulfed in darkness… you cannot see anything but darkness… it is closing in on you and there is no escape…"

Leon signaled Cid to send in nurse, while he continued with his story, "Everyone is panicking… the fear is spreading in the air… darkness is getting thicker by minute… and then it happens… one of your family member is consumed by the darkness… then the next one was gone even before anyone could react… within seconds everyone around you are fading into the darkness… you can hear their screams, their cries for help, yet there is nothing you or anyone else for that matter, that can do anything about it… their pain, their agony, their suffering… Can you hear them?"

Aerith nodded slightly and said a silent, "Yes"

The nurse slowly poked the needle. "Can you feel their pain? Their agony?"

Aerith just tightened her grip on Leon's hands in response. Her nails dug into Leon's hands but he didn't even budge.

"Now you are alone… all alone…You don't know what to do… you are lost and alone… you are about to give up… But then you see a flicker… a flicker of light… A new path had just opened… now tell me Aerith are you ready to run?"

This gave more then enough time to the nurse to slowly pull out the injection from her skin.

She nodded firmly, so Leon slowly released his grip but subconsciously she didn't let go of his hands. Initially it was Leon who was holding her hand but now it was the other way around.

"Let's go" she said.

He continued, "Yes, let's go to the land of twilight…the path gradually opening up… The small flicker of light is now big enough to illuminate everything… the darkness is slowly decreasing… now you are finally at the liminality… the light which guided you through the darkness is now in front of you… yet you don't recognize it… but you are determined to find out the source of that light… so you stare straight into that light which naturally blinds you… forcing you to shut your eyes for a moment… you slowly open your eyes and finally see the source of your light…"

Aerith opened her eyes and saw Leon in front of her which his eyes still closed.

"Can you see it now?" he asked

"Yes" Aerith replied looking at him. Leon opened his eyes, "Now think... hey you where not suppose to open your eyes!" he said shaking his head.

Aerith smiled sheepishly and looked down. That's when she realized that she was holding Leon's hands not the other way around. She immediately let go of his hand as if it was emitting 1000 watts of electricity through it.

Leon looked at the nurse and she gave thumbs up. Leon nodded and stood up, "Come on lets go" he said to the nurse.

"Don't worry, I'll do it" she said.

"No, I don't trust you or anyone else in this hospital for time being. So I am coming with you, like it or not" he said folding is hands over his chest.

Leon and bunch of other staff members left the room and headed for the laboratory. The blood test was performed once again under Leon scrutiny. After and hour or so, the results were ready.

After studying the reports thoroughly, doc handed them to Leon.

"I am sorry to disappoint you Mr. Leonhart but somehow the earlier reposts were not correct. You have our sincere apologizes" he said with utmost sincerity.

Leon sighed in relief. This was by far the happiest moment on the day for Leon. _One less misunderstanding, one less hassle in my life, and one less thing to worry about._

The doctor ordered his staff to investigate the cause of such a big mistake. "Let me know whose shift was it and who did her reports earlier" he ordered his subordinates.

Leon was about to leave when doctor called him. "Mr. Leon, mind if I join you?"

Leon just raised his eyebrow in questioning manner.

"I would personally like to apologize Ms. Aerith for this mishap"

Leon nodded and they both walked together towards Aerith's room.

* * *

"So what is it?" Yuffie asked eagerly. The suspense created by this new dramatic twist was killing her.

Everyone was around Aerith's her bed when Leon and Doc arrived.

Doctor cleared his throat and begins slowly, "We've got the results and I am extremely sorry to disappoint you… but you are not pregnant."

'_Disappoint? That's one of the best things I have heard in my entire life_' she smiled inwardly.

Even thought doctor thought that it was an unfortunate event; there was an obvious smile on Aerith's face. She sighed in relief and fell back on her bed.

* * *

The nurse was on her way to the doctor to report her 'investigation' when she bumped into something huge. Naturally she fell back because of the impact. She looked up and found a familiar face staring back at her, "Oh I am so sorry" she apologized to the nurse.

"Hey Dorthy! What are you doing here at this time?" she asked still rubbing her bruised nose.

"Oh I just came to check on Aerith" she said with a smile.

'_Perfect, it doesn't get any better then this_' she thought snickering slightly.

"Say Dorthy, can you do me favor" she said politely, "Can you give this files to doc. He should be in Aerith's room right now"

"Sure" she said agreeing.

* * *

"Hello everyone" Dorthy greeted everyone upon entering.

Bunch of people waved back to her.

"Here you go doc" she said handing the files to doc. Doc knew exactly what was in it, so he hold his hand up indicating that he needed no further explanation about it.

Dorthy engaged herself in friendly chit-chat while doc browsed through the file.

Doctor closed the file clearly angered by the reports in it. "Dorthy, did you do Aerith's reports to day morning?" he asked in a very professional tone.

"I sure did" she replied cheerfully.

"Do you realize what just did? You placed Aerith's reports in Brahne's file and visa versa. So it's Brahne who is pregnant, not Aerith. Such a mistake could have been catastrophic!" Doc tried his best not to yell at her in front of everyone.

"Oh I am so sorry. It was noon and I was really hungry so in hurry I must have misplaced it. I-I am truly sorry about that." she said sincerely.

'_Mistake!!! I nearly had a heart attack because of that_' Leon thought looking at Dorthy.

Leon not wanting this discussion go any further brought everyone back on the topic. "So doctor, what exactly cause her to collapse like that?"

"I think Aerith knows the answer more then anyone else. But my guess is that she must have fainted because of lack of food or lack of sleep or using too much magic or could be just normal weakness"

"The answer is… All of the above" Leon said glaring at Aerith.

Leon gave her a typical '_Leon look_' just intensified few hundred times more.

Aerith smiled sheepishly and looked away a bit shamefully on getting caught.

"You've been working very hard lately… so you better take a break" the doctor suggested.

"So what's the treatment?" Leon asked.

"Oh there is nothing serious and believe me there is nothing to worry about. We will just give her some fluids through intravenous infusion to get quick results, and within few hours, she will be back to normal" he said with confidence.

Aerith suddenly looked at Leon with puppy-dog-eyes, "I don't want to go through this. Please" she pleaded.

Who could resist Aerith's puppy-dog-eyes? Well, Leon can…

"Why?" he asked crossing his arms.

"Intravenous infusion means needles and IVs"

Squall sighed as everyone else slapped their hand on their forehead in squall's style.

* * *

"So you see there is going to be a change in out contract since the rules of the games are gonna change" Hades informed Cloud, "So you can't fight alone anymore. You'll need to find a partner."

"I don't need a partner. I can take Hercules." Cloud said confidently.

"No, no, no you don't understand. No one asked you if you want to have a partner or not. You MUST find a partner in order to compete in the tournament" Hades said with authority.

"But I don't know anyone around here" Cloud admitted.

"Oh-hhhhh don't worry about a thing. What are friends for? I just happen to have someone in mind who would be willing to help you. So you just sit back and relax." Hades said snickering as his hair turned red from blue.

* * *

"Is the trap ready?" a girl asked a man wearing a black cloak.

"Yes the trap has been set. Now it's up to you to lure Leon into it" the man in black cloak replied.

"Leave that to me. He'll definitely take the bait" the girl said with confidence.

"It was certainly nice dealing with you Ms. Yuffie" the man said offering a hand shake.

* * *

**_A/N:_**

For those who don't like Tifa, please bear with it becasue this story is going to have 4 different ending and her presence is vital for variations in endings.

Okay... I have to let this out now... It's no fun if I am the only one who is writing… you have to write back too you know… so please review.

**_I'd be waiting for your feedback!_**


	16. Episode 16 Changing Affection Part I

**!.. Changing Affection ..!  
... ... ...  
**

* * *

Once Intravenous infusion started, Aerith soon slipped into a peaceful slumber. 

Everyone hung around for a while before systematically disappearing leaving Leon and Yuffie behind.

It must have been around 3 and Yuffie was getting very impatient.

'_Come on! Where is he? He was supposed to be here 5 minutes ago. My whole plan depends on it, so he better not screw this up_.'

Leon had his eyes shut so Yuffie took this opportunity to look scan her surrounding, looking for someone, but to no avail.

After five more minutes she finally saw a white lab coat and she inhaled loudly and relaxed a bit. Those five minutes felt like an eternity to Yuffie. The doctor came up to them and talked a bit with Leon. He prescribed few medicines and checked upon Aerith, who was still sleeping. Everything was normal, she was recovering just fine. Within few hours she should be better then before.

After finishing the formalities doctor turned around and started walking away, nearly giving a heart attack to Yuffie. But he suddenly stopped and turned around, "Oh Leon, gunblade is not allowed in the hospital. I would appreciate if you keep your weapon outside the hospital."

'_There is no way I am entrusting ANYONE with my gunblade_' he thought strongly.

"So you going home?" Yuffie suggested.

"Why?" he asked forgetting what doctor just said.

"Duh! To put your gunblade… SAFE…" she replied playfully.

'_Hmm… what to do? What to do? Aerith or my Gunblade?' Leon placed his hand on his head and started thinking deeply, 'I can't leave my gunblade in care of anyone…neither can I leave Aerith in this condition_'

Leon sighed heavily, '_Dam… this might not look like it… but this is by far the toughest decision of my life…_'

"Don't worry Leon I'd take care of everything around here" Yuffie said reassuringly.

'_Aerith or Gunblade… Aerith or Gunblade… Aerith or Gunblade? Dam…_' he pulled out his gunblade and holds it in from of Yuffie.

'_If I have to trust Yuffie with anything… then I'll entrust her with my gunblade. I can't leave Aerith like this_' he dreadfully concluded.

"What?" Yuffie asked putting a straight face.

"Keep it safe. Your safety depends of this" Leon said threateningly.

He gave some more lecture to her… well it was more of a warning… and handed her his beloved gunblade.

There is nothing more important to a warrior then his weapon.

After acquiring the gunblade Yuffie skipped out happily. '_Mission accomplished_'

* * *

Leon sat on a stool next to Aerith's bed. He placed his hands on his knees, leaned forward and rested his head on his hands. Tired, was one word which could sum up Leon's current situation. He was more tired mentally then physically. 

Since Leon was the only one who could have forced Aerith to go through Intravenous infusion, it was a logical decision for him to stay back with her.

'_Logical decision… is that it? Is that really the reason I decided to stay back? Or is it because I wanted to say by her side?_'

He looked up a bit and turned his face towards Aerith. '_Leon you are getting attached… you can't let your personal feelings get into your way… You are a soldier… you have duties, you have responsibilities… you don't have time to pamper your own feelings… you must not get attached Leon…_'

He looked at Aerith. She seemed very peaceful… very content.  
'D. Leon: _She is sleeping like an angle in coma… kiss her, I am sure she'll wake up_'  
'S. Leon: _Angle in what??? Since when did angles got coma? That's a bad analogy…_'  
'D. Leon: _Umm… ya… But that wasn't the point._'  
'S. Leon: _Whatever_'

A/N: (For those who forgot, Saint. Leon and Devil Leon are two sides of his annoying consciousness)

Leon leaned back a bit and his eyes paused for a moment to look at IV's, then he looked at Aerith again. What Leon did to convince Aerith to take IV would always remain mystery but whatever he did must have worked because she seemed quite relaxed and peaceful. She moved just bit and Leon immediately withdrew his eyes. Aerith turned on her side, now half awake.

"Squall" she slurred still half asleep.

"Yes?"

"About that dream" she said.

His eyes narrowed in thoughtful manner. He wasn't sure what she was referring to.

"What if something like that really happens to me?" she asked with a sad undertone.

Finally it clicked Leon what she was a talking about, "Oh that, don't worry about it. That would never happen to you"  
"But what if it does?" she persisted.

"Then I'll come wake you up, I promise. Now go back to sleep okay?" he almost whispered leaning close to her.

After hearing those reassuring words she contently went back to sleep. "Thank you Cl—" she mumbled coherently before drifting into sleep again. Leon couldn't figure out the last thing she said so he just shrugged it off and stood up.

Aerith was shivering a bit from cold. Leon saw that and grabbed a blacked from the next bed and gently covered her with it. He looked at her once again; it was like some unknown force was pulling him towards her. He was about to touch her face, something which he had never done before. His hand was barely few centimeters away from her face when he suddenly pulled away from her.

'_No… no… no… I can't… I don't deserve it..._' he grabbed his head with both hands and plopped down on the empty bed next to him. He stretched out his legs and crossed them.

His hands supported the back of his head as he leaned back his head against the wall. He had his trademark frown on his face and was lost deep in thoughts. His past rushed back to him.

It must have been 30 minutes when Aerith woke up again. Leon was sitting on the bed in the exact same position. Aerith turned to her side and looked at the human statue. No expression, no emotions and no movement besides breathing... truly a human statue.

Observing Leon was quickly becoming her new favorite hobby.

After some quite moments she suddenly giggled girlishly which immediately brought Leon out of his trance.

He opened his eyes and quickly looked at the source of the sound. She tried to hide her smile but failed miserably.

"What?" he asked a bit annoyed.

"Nothing" she with a smile.

"hmm" he folded his hands and looked away in almost childish manner. Actually he was a bit annoyed as was in a meeting with D. Leon & S. Leon when Aerith's giggling forced him to adjourn his meeting.

She giggled again, but this time she didn't even tried to hide it.

"What now?" he asked with a scowl.

"How can you live like that?" she asked curiously.

He just arched his eyebrow in reply.

"You know, without smiling" oddly she said that with a smile herself, "Do you ever smile?"

His scowl was suddenly replaced by a serious one. Aerith immediately regretted saying that by the look of pain in his eyes. He was master as masking his emotions but his eyes always gave away.

He leaned back and looked at the ceiling, "Smiling is an art I forgot long ago" he admitted sadly.

Although they lived together Aerith, Cid, Yuffie and Squall... they all had one thing in command... their tragic past... their past was something which they never discussed. It was like an unspoken agreement among all of them.

"When was the last time you smiled?" she asked persistently.

"It's been long... too long... can't even remember it anymore" ,there was a noticeable hint of regret in his voice.

"Well then, I'll be your instructor" she said cheerfully.

"hmm?" he wasn't sure what she was getting at.

"I'll teach you how to smile" she said enthusiastically.

"What's the point? What difference does it make even if I don't smile?" he muttered, still not looking at her.

"But Leon" she argued.

"Look… I don't smile because I've never found a reason to smile" he said sadly, yet honestly.

"Well then, I'll be your reason to smile, I promise" she said sincerely with a smile.

'_Aerith you are making this harder for me…_'

* * *

"So you mean you know where he is?" she asked. Her joy was audible in her voice. 

"Of course…" Hades replied with a grin.

"I can take you to see him if you want" he said rolling his eyes.

"Take me… please take me to him" she almost begged to him.

"Not a problem… but you do realize that there is a price to pay for everything you gain…"

"I'll give up anything if I can reunite with Cloud" she said determinedly.

"Anything???" Hades repeated with an evil smirk.

* * *

After that little conversation, it was back to the silence-mode... he sat there messaging his temples while Aerith was facing Leon… oh and also waiting to get rid of her IV's... 

No one said anything; they just occasionally stolen glanced at each other.

Aerith finally remembered one unanswered question and asked Leon hoping to get a proper solution. "Say Leon, did you think about our wedding?"

"Are you serious?" the expression on Leon's face was priceless,  
'D. Leon: _Does she mean real wedding or fake one_.'  
'S. Leon: _Shut up._'

Aerith bursted into giggles "No silly I mean our fake wedding" she said almost reading his mind.

Leon for once did not know if he should be happy or sad to hear that, the logical part of Squall was relived to hear that but the emotional part of Squall went into instant depression,  
'D. Leon: _Man, I got my hopes up for nothing_.'  
'S. Leon: _Shut up, will you?_'

"No, I haven't thought much about it much" he replied regaining his composer.

"We better come up with something because if situation demands then we might have to tell a good story about our wedding to people just to get them off our backs, especially the Random reporter" she suggested.

'_Ya we don't want another 'trouble in paradise' article_' he thought.

"Just want to make sure we are on the same page so we don't screw up in public" she added.

"Yah" he said quietly.

After a short pause.

"Didn't you guys discuss that already?" he said remembering some earlier events.  
"Yes" she said excitedly, as she remembered those events.

"So what did you guys come up with?" he asked a bit uninterested.

She then proceeded to tell him their version to their wedding. Leon listened to it carefully and made few changes to it periodically, especially removing the parts which involved hugging and kissing each other. For some reason those were very uncomfortable thoughts for Leon at this point.

It took them almost two hours to come up with a very decent fake-love-story.

It was around six when doctor came in for another check up. The IV's had been taken off an hour ago during their 'discussion'.

The doctor paid them a surprised visit after an hour. It was past seven when the doctor finally discharged Aerith.

"Leon… please take care of Aerith, makes sure she eats on time and gets enough rest. She is more the fine right now but she must maintain her health, so take good care of her"

"Aerith don't bother coming back to the hospital for next two weeks, you are off. Things are finally getting under control so better take a little break, you deserve it."

After doctor's advice and some paper work they walked out of the hospital together.

They were walking quietly side by side. After much debate with himself, Leon did something unexpected. He suddenly grabbed Aerith's hand. Naturally, Aerith was in total shock at Leon's behavior.

Here they were walking down the street like a couple holding hands. But before Aerith got change to say anything, Leon cleared things up. "I am sorry, but… I can't take the risk… what if you faint again?" Aerith was naturally flustered. '_A caring Leon… Now that's something you don't see often_' she thought playfully and smiled.

Aerith felt embarrassed walking hand in hand with Leon like that. Leon too was embarrasses and reluctant to do that but in the end he did not care about what anyone would say or think, all he cared about right now was Aerith's well being.

After a while, Aerith offered politely, "Leon I am absolutely fine now." Her intention was not for Leon to let go of her hand, but in fact, she did not wanted Leon to worry about her.

"I am finding it hard to believe" he replied without looking.

"Its fine, if you don't believe me, but at least believe in what doctor said" she said lightly, "I am feeling much better then before, honestly."

'_You had your chance to be trusted… but you blew it away_' Leon did not think it was important to state his thought. So he just replied with his regular, "Whatever"

They continued their 'romantic' journey towards the hotel still holding hands.

Upon seeing hotel, Leon finally let go of Aerith's hand and apologized once again.

Leon was surprise to see that there was absolutely no one in the hotel. No Cid, no Yuffie, no Eiko, no guest… everything was deserted.

'_Something is not right here…_' he thought dreadfully.

Ignoring all that, they made their way to the red room. One more surprise awaited them inside the room…

Leon turned the door knob and opened the door slowly. He peaked inside and found no immediate threat, so he held the door and let Aerith enter first.  
When Aerith flipped on the lights they both say something which neither of them liked to see anymore.

It was a newspaper and a note from Yuffie.

With courage Leon moved forwards and picked up the note while Aerith picked up newspaper.

'_Oh not again..._' Aerith thought with a sigh.

'_I have a bad feeling about this_' Leon thought with a sigh too. Their similar reaction was almost comical.

Leon picked up Yuffie's note while Aerith picked up the newspaper.

The title of the newspaper reads, '_A Final gift from a friend_'

* * *

**A/n:** Okay, no more newspaper from now on.

It's going to be more Lerith from this point onwards but Clerith fans hang in there, you won't regret it. The closer Leon and Aerith are the more dramatic entry Cloud would have. Can you even imagine how would Cloud react when he finds out?

_**Like always… eagerly waiting for your feedback...**_


	17. Episode 17 Changing Affection Part II

**!.. Changing Affection 2 ..!  
... ... ... **

**

* * *

**

Leon opened the note and immediately recognized the handwriting. The note said:

_"I have your gunblade…  
If you want it, come and get it…  
I'd be waiting in school's auditorium…_

_Super cool mysterious Ninja"_

Meanwhile, Aerith was reading the dreaded newspaper with a heading in big bold letter:

"_You are cordially invited in the 4th anniversary of Leon and Aerith"  
"Tonight is the party night, it's the 4th anniversary of the hottest couple in TT and since we weren't invited in their wedding we are going to celebrate it today in style. The function would be held in the auditorium of the school, it starts at 7 pm. This is our change to show them our gratitude for their hard work, so be there on time... The host of this party is going to be none other then, Leon's self-proclaimed best friend - David Sheppard" _

Aerith gulped and passed on the newspaper to Leon. Squall, now really really pissed, snatched the newspaper from Aerith's hands and opened it up.

Aerith turned around and leaned against one of the pillar of her bed, waiting to see Leon's reaction. Suddenly, her eyes caught an unusual sight. There were two bags on the dressing table and a note (with a smiley drawn on it) sticking on the mirror.

She forced herself towards the dressing table and grabbed the note. It was from Yuffie,

"_Here are your clothes fellas. A nice dress for Mrs. Leonhart and a tux for Mr-party-pooper. Oh no need to thank me, I just took it out from your closet. Don't be late_"

Aerith grabbed the note and turned around towards Squall. But much to her surprise, he was smiling.

Aerith, " Leon… you are… smiling?"

Squall was smirking as his mind was processing gross images of a short-fat-blad guy named Sheppard. "Oh Sheppard, you are soooooo dead" Leon whispered to himself.

But, Aerith heard it anyway, "No, you are not hurting him" she said with an authoritative tone.

"Whatever" was his normal reply.

"Here" she tossed the note to Leon; "Read this"

'_What now?_' he thought with an exasperating sigh.

Leon read through Yuffie's note while Aerith quietly checked out their cloths.

"Arrggg…. I can't take this anymore" he eruption. "Why can't these people just leave me alone?"

"Leon, relax" she tried to calm him down.

"I AM PERFECTLY CALM AND RELAXED" he yelled.

"haha very funny, you don't sound like it" she pointed.

"I ALWAYS SOUND LIKE THIS WHEN I AM RELAXED, OKAY?" Leon thwart.

"Okay okay, so what are you wearing tonight?" she asked trying to change the subject.

"Cloths"

After a long uncomfortable silence, Aerith continued, "Ummm ya but... you are not planning to go to a party wearing THIS, are you?"

"Why? What's wrong with this?" he asked gesturing at his attire.

"Everything..." was her instantaneous reply, "for crying out loud this is your party, OUR party"

"I never asked for it" he said coldly, "besides killing someone in formal attire would be very... rude and uncomfortable... I guess"

_'He is so stubborn'_ Aerith sighed.

Aerith walked closer to Leon and stood in front of him, "Leon, tell me one thing... why do you risk you life everyday fighting with heartless?"

Leon looked away and said bitterly,"I can't escape from my past"

"Is that the only reason?" she asked.

"Yes" he replied monotonously.

She moved closer and grabbed his hand and looked him straight into his eyes, "Stop lying Leon, stop acting like you don't care about anyone... you fight everyday because you want to make sure what happed to you does not happen to someone else. You stay awake every night so that everyone else can sleep peacefully. You put your life on the line everyday to protect everyone else, you don't fight for yourself - you fight for the others. You ignore your own feelings and emotions just so you can work all day and night without any distraction. You never have time for yourself. You are afraid to lose people you love so you push everyone away from you. You are willing to scarify your own happiness just to see everyone else happy. Stop pretending as if you don't care about anyone else."

Leon didn't say anything but closed his eyes and turned away.

"Everyday there is something about you in the newspaper, did you ever wonder why? It's because they like you, they admire you, and they look up to you? They feel that they are in your debt. This is their way of saying 'Thank you'. Now, when people are trying to repay you for all that you have done for them, you are going to run away? You are going break their heart? You are going to snatch away their happiness? To us it might be a painful and troublesome but to them it's a joyous event. Do you want to take away their momentary happiness?" she asked pleadingly.

"Whatever" he replied without making an eye contact; sounding still as emotionless as ever.

Squall gently push Aerith aside and was making his way towards the door. But Aerith ran up and blocked his way by outstretching her arms, "Squall Leonhart you are not going to do this, I wont let you do this"  
"Whatev—" Aerith cut him off by placing a hand on his mouth, "Don't you dare 'whatever' me. You are coming in his party with me and that is that" she said firmly.

For once, Leon was really annoyed with Aerith. Aerith moved out of the way and grabbed the large bag containing his tuxedo and tossed it to him, "Wear this" she ordered.  
_'The bag?'_ he asked himself.

"I'll go get changed as well" without waiting for any sort of response she occupied the bathroom.

Leon, with a bag in his hands, was standing in the middle of the room like a statue.

He tossed the bag aside and sat on the chair with his feet on the table... waiting for Aerith to come out, so they can continue the argument.

Five minutes passes, yet she did not come out...10 minutes passed... 20 minutes passed... 30 minutes passed... yet she did not come out.

Leon was starting to get annoyed and concerned at the same time. He though about knocking on the door or calling her, but arguments with S.Leon and D.Leon had preoccupied his mind.

She finally came out after 40 long minutes. Leon thought that she must have fainted or something since she took so long.

_'It took her 40 minutes to get changed! Give me a break.'_

_'Maximum Yuffie ever took was like 10 minutes and that was only once in a lifetime sort of an event'_

She stepped out in all her beauty with a smile, hopping to get a complement from Leon. "How do I loo—" but her smile disappeared at the speed of light when she saw the man before her still in his regular attire.

He had his eyes closed with his hands folded behind his head and was shaking leg absentmindedly

"Leon you still haven't changed?" she exclaimed.

He opened his eyes and looked at Aerith, although she looked breath taking, he had no breath to spare, he was too focused on his objective. He continued their argument from where they had left off earlier, "To you or to people I may be a hero, a legend, or an icon but in the end... I am who I am"

"Everyone knows that I am nothing more then an emotionless cold hearted guy who would put even heartless to shame."

"I don't care about their feeling and I don't give a damn about their party."

"My only concern right now is to stop the eccentric man who is hell bent on making my life miserable"

Aerith was not going to give up, yet, "Leon" she said calmly, "You take life too seriously. Ease up a bit already. You know if you think about it then there is nothing wrong in what he is doing. He just wants to throw a party on his best friend's wedding. It's not his fault that he doesn't know that it's a fake wedding"

Aerith sat besides Leon and continued, "Besides didn't we agree that we would let everyone know about our 'love story' tomorrow? So instead of tomorrow let's do it today. Also, think about it, if I am all dressed up and if you are in your normal attire, then don't you think that would raise some suspension? After all it's OUR anniversary that they are celebrating. So if you don't behave accordingly then we might get 'Trouble in paradise 2' in tomorrow's newspaper. We don't want that now, do we?"

Leon didn't say a word but just looked away.

Aerith didn't know what else she could say or do to convince Leon. After getting no response from Leon, she finally sighed dejectedly.

She placed her hand on Leon's hand, looked at him said in a low voice, "Leon you gotta do this… for Eiko's sake… for my sake..."  
"Our secret, must remain secret" she paused. "So just play along... please!"

Leon took his legs off the table and leaned forwards and looked at Aerith. "Fine" he said with a scowl on his face.

But apparently Aerith didn't care about that as she clasped her hands excitedly while uttering, "Wow!"

She took the bag Leon had tossed away earlier and shoved it into Leon's hands "Hurry, now go and get changed, I just can't wait to see you in a tux."

Leon stood up lazily and made his way towards the bathroom. Aerith moved closer to the mirror and started brushing hair.

After exactly 1 minute and 40 seconds the bathroom door opened Leon stepped out. Looking at his watch he thought, '_It took me exactly 100 seconds to get change... and it took her 2400 seconds to get changed!...dam…women...I'd never understand them'_ he concluded.

Aerith looked at Leon and her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. Leon looked at her and she looked like a statue.

Leon looked at himself to make sure everything was alright, he turned around and conformed that nothing was missing.

Once again he looked at Aerith who was still staring him. So he went up to her and waved his hand in front of her as she snapped out of the momentary trance.

"You okay there?" he asked.

"Wow! You are looking gorgeous!" she said, still baffled.

"Umm… thanks I guess" he said with a hint of nervousness.

Neither of them said a word and allowed few silent moments to pass by.

"So should we go?" he suggested.

"No no no no I still have to fix you up" she said in a mischievous tone.

"What?" he asked, unsure of what to expect.

"Your collar is not straight, and your tie doesn't go with you suit, and your hair is all messy, and --"

"--Cant we do without it?" he said interrupting Aerith.

"No way, not happening" she said resolutely.

She gestured Leon to stand still as she dug through the closet looking for a decant tie. She found some sort suit but tossed it aside and continued her search. After a while she did come up with a tie and something else which was pink colored. Holding both of them in one hand she said, "Here this would look good on you"

Leon saw pink and took couple to steps backwards, "There is no freaking way I am wearing anything pink" he made his intention clear.

She was confused for a bit for a second and then giggled suddenly. "Oh don't worry… this is my hair bend"

Leon exhaled loudly, "I saw something pink and for a moment I thought you were going to make me ware pink tie"

She giggled once again as she saw Leon's picture in her mind wearing pink tie. "Now that you've mentioned it, a pink tie might not be a bad idea" she said teasingly.

"Whatever" he said.

She fixed his collar and worked her way, putting the tie on. As soon as she was done Leon grabber her hand and pulled her away, "Lets go"

"Hang on" she pleaded, "Let me take on last look at you, at least, before we go"

Leon sighted and folded his arm as Aerith moved couple of steps back to observe him, "hmm...looking good. I bet any girl would fall for you now" she said playfully.

'_Would you fall for me Aerith?_' his mind immediately asked. Leon mentally kicked himself to asking that.

"Can we go now? I have a murder to do" Leon said with a hint of eagerness.

"Wait! I thought we agreed on—" Aerith immediately sprung into action upon hearing that.

"Ya, ya, I know. But accidents can happen, right?" he said as if formulating a plan in his head.

She looked at the clock and concurred with him, "Okay lets get going now"

They had barely taken two steps when she gasped, "WAIT" she screams "oh my god... this is not gonna work"

'_What now?'_ Leon thought increasingly getting annoyed.

"Your shoes… they don't match with your suit" she pointed out something obvious to her yet something completely unknown to Leon.

"So what? Does everything has to match?" he asked with annoyance evident in his voice.

"Yes it has to" she persisted.

"Oh please" Leon smacked his hand on his forehead.

"Look, this is the only pair of shoes I have. So this will have to do it" he said trying to reason it out with Aerith.

"Then lets change you suite" she said getting restless.

"WHAT? You want me to change my cloths just so that they match with my shoes?" he asked her, "Like, really, who cares?"

"I do" she immediately replied, "My Leon has to look perfect"

D.Leon: _Did she just say_… _My Leon!!!... … … SCORE!!!!_  
S.Leon pulled out a duct tape…

"Look we don't have time for all these" he was partially saying it to Aerith and partially to his annoying consciousness.  
"Wait! I remember seeing another suit" she said already moving towards their combined closet. Within seconds she picked up what she had tossed aside earlier.

"Here" she tossed it to Leon "You can wear this" she said with a smile.

Leon looked at the suit and immediately his hands started trembling. Wounds from his past were reopened and torrent of painful memories was unleashed. "I… I… I can't wear this" he stuttered.

Smile suddenly disappeared from Aerith's face as she had never seen Leon so… vulnerable. "Why?" she asked after a brief pause.

"Do you know what this is?" he asked.

She shook her head response.

"This is SeeD Graduation Uniform. Only elite soldiers of Radiant Garden gets to wear this on their graduation. I don't deserve to wear this, I failed to protect…" his voice cracked ever so slightly. He turned around, unable to finish his sentence.

Aerith moved closer him and wrapped her hands around him from the back. "Hey, it wasn't your fault. You can't blame yourself for everything that goes wrong. I know that, deep down inside, you know that there was nothing you or anyone else for that matter, could have done anything to prevent it. It all happened so sudden. We were too late to even defend ourselves. It's not your fault."

After a brief silence "You know… I have lost someone special too. But I keep on living with a hope for the future instead of forlorn from the past."

Aerith pulled away from Leon so he turned around and looked at her. " Leon let go of your past just this once, and see what future holds"

* * *

"Master Hades, the Keyblade Master has just entered the tournament" one of the 'employee' of Hades informed him.

"Perfect! Everything is going according to the plan. The tournament is about to begin…Do you know what that means?" he turned around and asked his employee. Of course no one had any answer so Hades continued, "That means, _the end is about to begin_…" he yelled as his hair turned from cool blue to flaming red.

* * *

**_  
_****A/N :**__

_Wow! Its been a while since I updated this, hasn't it? Well, I was busy making Leon x Aerith videos so can't blame me for that. I strongly recommend to check out the video called 'Liminality' as it essentially describes Leon's dream in chapter 15. Check out my profile to find all the videos._

**_Like always… eagerly awaiting for your feedback... at least leave a comment..._**


	18. Episode 18 A Magical Moment

**!... A magical moment ...!  
... ... ...**

* * *

Aerith had practically dragged Leon to the school premises.

"Okay from this point onwards we are couple" she said looking at the school in front, instead of looking at her partner next to her. '_You serious_?' was the only interpretation of Leon's facial expression.

Such timely expressions of Leon provided eternal amusement to Aerith. She giggled like a school girl upon seeing her partner's expressions. Leon just blinked in reply as if restating his question. Instead of clearing up Squall's confusion Aerith simply smiled tenderly and left Squall to ponder upon his own question.

"Come on, let's go" she said grabbing Leon's hand.

They had barely walked few feet when they saw all the lights in the premises going off one by one.

'_Why do bad things always happens to good guys?_' asked S.Leon  
'_Cause that's the way life works_' replied D.Leon smartly.

Leon's free hand instinctively went to his wait to get the feel of his katal which he had concealed by his belt.

Aerith intuitively moved closer to Leon and grabbed his hand firmly. Leon gently curled his fingers around her palm reassuringly as they both proceeded.

* * *

No street lights to aid, no building lights to guide, and not a minuscule sound to be heard. It was a full moon and a strange howl added to the creepiness of the atmosphere.

Leon's mind was busy processing all sorts of random thoughts. '_Did someone actually plan THIS? Is this some kind of a trap? What if the heartless attack? How did I get myself into this mess anyway?_'

Leon suddenly shook his head and jarred back to the reality. '_No point in thinking about all this now_' he concluded.

Leon had his one hand on the door and was about to push it; but he paused momentarily to look at Aerith. She peered back and nodded in approval.

Leon pushed through the large door as it creaked open very slowly. Aerith snuggled closer to Leon on the sound of the typical horror movie door. Leon swiftly unshielded his katal and moved in first with Aerith following his footsteps.

Suddenly a bright spot fell on them blinding them momentarily. Aerith slowly took her hand off from her eyes. Leon's eyes had readjusted itself in matter of seconds.

The light which gleamed upon them was coming from a spot light from the top. The dim lights were gradually turned on and a loud cheer echoed through the auditorium. Aerith heart had regained its normal beating pattern and Leon also relaxed a bit.

Once again they resumed their journey hand in hand towards the center stage while people cheered them along. Aerith couldn't hide her smile and her obvious joy at their reception. Leon on the other hand was well… being Leon. His eyes were searching for 1) Gunblade 2) Sheppard and 3) Yuffie … his mind had conveniently isolated him from rest of the events happening around him.

They reached the center stage and were applauded loudly. A gentlemen approached Leon and offered a hand shake. Leon pointed his katal to him in reply. The elderly man took a step back. That's when Leon realized that he was still holding katal in one hand and Aerith was hanging off his other hand. "Oh sorry" he said sheathing away his katal. The elderly man offered his hand again and this time Leon gladly shook it. He then went on to meet few more people and so did Aerith.

Aerith seemed to be enjoying herself while Leon was quickly getting sick of all these pleasantries. Drinks were served and everyone was enjoying themselves (except few party poopers like you know who).

* * *

"Holly son of a (censored) (censored). What the (censored) are you doing here?" said exulted Cid upon seeing his friend.

"Son of a (censored) (censored). Where the (censored) hell you've been? I was (censored) waiting for you" said equally exulted Sid.

"Forget about (censored) me, tell me what the (censored) are you doing here" asked Cid.

"We were hired to fix that (censored) stage" he replied chewing his stick.

"That (censored) stage looks dam fine to me" he stated the obvious.

"Hell, it's not (censored) broken now, but it will be (censored) soon" Sid forecasted.

"What the (censored) hell are you talking about?" Cid stated his confusion.

"Just (censored) wait and watch" Sid advised.

"Hey do you want (censored) something to drink?"Cid sat on the stool next to Sid and offered, "No you tell me what the (censored) (censored) do you want to (censored) drink?"

Sid grinned and pointed at the back where not just a can, but cases of drinks were piled up against the wall.

"Hollllllly (censored) (censored)" said the saucer eyed Cid.

* * *

Physically Leon was busy talking with people but mentally he was still distracted as his eyes were searching for a guy who invaded his privacy and a trustworthy ally who stole his gunblade. Aerith was also busy chattering with everyone around, but she constant kept her eyes on Leon. Was it to make sure that he doesn't do anything funny or was it simply because he looked gorgeous, she did not know.

It must have been about half an hour when the classical music in the background finally stopped. The emcee grabbed the microphone and announced charmingly, "This is a great night, but it's gonna get even better… because… now the floor is open to all the couples for a romantic dance. So people lets hit the floor."

* * *

Squall was getting increasingly bored by every passing minute. He found himself a nice little isolation from overly socializing atmosphere around him. But, unfortunately, someone found him even there.

_(I wonder what Squall is doing?)_ A girl quietly approached him and waved in front of him to catch his attention. _(Wait! Is that Squall hanging out with some other girl?)_ Squall woke up from his momentarily trance as the girl's features began to register. She was slender and petite, with long, dark hair that dropped past her shoulders, with a few blonde streaks running through her hair as well. _(Is he staring at her?)_ She had delicate skin of a cream like complexion, and wore a stunning white dress that almost glowed in the ballroom's light. Around her neck she wore a slender silver chain with a silver ring on it. She was downright beautiful, more than many, if not all, of the other girls in the room. _(Oh my god, he IS staring at her!)_

As she leaned closer, Squall found himself looking into her deep brown eyes, eyes that were lit with curiosity and interest. _(What is she doing?)_ She cocked her head to the side, and smiled, and expression that made this girl seem even more beautiful. _(Is she flirting with Squall?)_

She examined Squall in a playful manner; starting with the obvious scar between his eyes. _(Squall is not even trying to get out of there. That's not good.)_ Bending and shifting her weight, she looked him over head to toe, then stood straight and placed a finger on her chin. "You know, you're the best looking guy here," she finally said, still wearing her intoxicating smile. _(What are they talking about?)_ Her voice was soft, yet playful and interested. An instant before she spoke the next words, Squall realized what she was going to ask.

"Dance with me?" she asked hopefully. _(Why isn't Squall pushing her away, like he does to everyone else?)_

Yes, she was beautiful. Yes, she had Squall's attention. And yes, Squall was intrigued and interested by this mystery girl. (_Could it be because he likes her?)_ But Squall was still Squall, and he did not like the idea of stepping out onto the dance floor with a complete stranger in a public place with dozens and dozens of observers, many of whom knew all about Squall's antisocial tendencies. _(What if she asked him to dance with her?)_ If Squall took this dance, he might end up having a small horde of female lining up to ask the "dream boy" out on the floor too.

So, instead of responding verbally, Squall just took a sip of his champagne and looked over at a distant metal statue featuring the school emblem on its face. _(By looking at Squall's response so far, he might just agree with her)_ The girl, undeterred by Squall's silent refusal, continued.

"Let me guess," she began. "You'll only dance with someone you like? Okay, then . . ." She suddenly stepped closer, raising a hand in front of her face. Squall, startled, turned back towards her right as she spoke again. _(That's not good, do something Aerith)_

"Look into my eyes," she said as she twirled her hand in front of Squall's face. _(Wha.. What… What's going on?)_ "You-are-going-to-like-me. You-are-going-to-like-me . . . ." She chanted like some hypnotist, all the while smiling jokingly. _(What is she doing to Squall?)_ "Did it work?" she asked a moment later.

Perhaps the champagne had loosened Squall up somewhat, or maybe it was just this girl's demeanor, but Squall, surprising himself, chuckled at the "hypnosis." _(Did he just chuckle? That's so not like him. She is having quite an effect on Squall. I better go there before it's too late)_

Aerith arrived at the scene just in time to hear Squall's reply. "I can't dance" he lied much to Aerith's relief.  
"I can't dance with someone else when my wife is standing right next to me, correct?" the mysterious girl said jokingly easing up the situation. "It's okay, I'll find someone else" she said with a smile and made a hasty exit.

"What was all that about?" she asked as soon as the mysterious girl was out of sight. Squall just shrugged in response. Aerith shook her head and said with her pleasant smile, "Let's go."

"Go where?" he asked in a confused tone.

"To dance" she replied cheerfully.

'_Was she not listening when I said I can't dance? Okay let me rephrase it for her_', "Aerith, I don't know how to dance."

She rolled her eyes and smiled, "You'll be fine. Come on" she said reassuring. Without warning, Aerith grabbed his hand, and tugged his arm. "I can't be on the dance floor all by myself" she complained. "Aerith I—" he resisted but Aerith tugged even harder in response. She was not going to take _no_ for an answer. She took his hand and dragging him all the way to the center of the dance floor. She faced him, and placed one of his arms about her waist. "Aerith, I'm not sure…"

"Shh. Just watch, and play along." She moved closer to him, and moved slowly to one side. He followed her lead, but was a half step behind, and stepped on one of her feet. "Ouch!"

"I... I am sorry" he quickly apologized.

She giggled in response and said in a pacifying manner, "It's okay. You'll pick it up in no time. Now move with my count, slowly. 1-2-3. 1-2-3."

He followed along well for a moment, with only some slight missteps, until he repeated his earlier mistake. His face betrayed embarrassment, and he tried to move away from her. Aerith held fast to his hand, and pulled him back. "Nuh uh. You're not going anywhere mister."

"I will probably break your foot by the end of this dance."

Aerith favored him with a soft and encouraging smile. She spoke warmly. "The only way you could hurt me is by leaving right now."

Squall lifed her chin and looked straight into her eyes in search for sincerity of her words. Her eyes certainly did not betray her words. "Guess I'll have to stay then" Leon said with a rare smile.

Aerith tried her best to ignore the effect that smile was having on her. An untimely bump into another dancing pair brought them back to reality.

"I don't think this is going to work" he said politely. "Of course it would. Just think of it as your sparing session. I am your opponent and you have to match me step to step" she suggested astutely.

"Hmm… when you put it that way, it sounds much simpler" he agreed.

Apparently, the new approach worked. He moved with her much better. After several moments, she felt the tenseness in his muscles disappear, as he began to relax. The song was slow and relaxing, perfect for this atmosphere. She laid her head against his shoulder, and sighed contentedly.

"That destroys my concentration you know" Leon complained.

She asked ignorantly "How so?"

"I have never fought a single opponent who has ever laid their head across my shoulder while sparring."

She giggled but did not bother to change her position.

"Squall, you shouldn't lie if you are not good at it" she spoke softly. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I know you are a better dancer than this" she said now looking at him. "You knew?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Squall, every moment passing by, is gone forever. I want you to forget about what has happened in the past, I want you to stop thinking about what will happen in the future, I want you to embrace this present you are living in. Dance as if no one is watching and just live in this moment and enjoy it."

After a quick analysis of Aerith's advice, Squall blinked and than nodded in a silent agreement, and even as a new song began to play he grasped her hand and assumed the proper pose for this dance.

As the brass and violins began to play the dance beat, they began the waltz, feet stepping in time. They twirled in synch, their feet and bodies part of a singular whole, a joined pair that flowed across the dance floor in harmony. As their legs weaved, their eyes never left each other, and both he and she knew where their next steps would take them, each leading the other into their parts of the waltz.

The song began to pick up, and they broke apart, holding one another's right hand high, stepping into each other's place, and rotating around one another. Their hands separated, and they spun, tracing movements around each other in perfect synch, closing in once again and drawing into a series of spins and steps in close.

The song suddenly began to slow, and right on cue, Squall and Aerith drew close, bodies pressing against each other on the dance floor.

At that instant, the lights dimmed and fireworks began to ignite the night sky above them. Squall broke eye contact to stare out the skylights at the enchanting display. He never felt the way he did right then; there was something so indescribable in the moment, with her so close. So surreal... foreign... He felt... comfort. So rare was the feeling, that he had let his guard down and forgot where he was. Aerith found something even more enchanting than the display outside; his eyes, they were so deep. She relaxed in his arms and ignored the music for a moment; she could feel his heart pounding, and a feeling of tranquility took over her, it was a feeling she hadn't truly experienced in a long time.

"And nooooow… I am sure that the couples on the floor would like to seal this magical moment with a sweet kiss" said the announcer out of nowhere. "Let's start with our special couple of the night, Aerith and Leon."

Instantly a spot light fell on them and everyone shifted their attention towards the center expecting the special couple to kiss each other.  
"Oh hellllll noooo" Leon muttered under his breath.

"Not good, not good, not good at all" Aerith complained.

Everyone was looking at them but they were looking at each other.

They just looked at each other like deer staring into the headlights of an approaching truck.

* * *

**A/N:**

Anyone want to guess what will happen next? Will Leon finally kiss Aerith? Where is Yuffie? and what was Sid forcasting?

Special thanks to Peptuck. The whole dance sequence was taken from FF8 novelization by peptuck. Hats off to his excellent writing skills.


	19. Episode 19 Part of the Act Part I

Ta Daaaaaa! Surprise is too mild of a word right now, isn't it?

After an excruciatingly loooong hiatus… I am back to finish what I started years ago. I sincerely want to thank all the readers and reviewers who have encouraged / threatened / spammed / requested / forced / blackmailed me to continue…

And for those who have patiently and eagerly waited for the next update. So here it is… your moment to zen…

Oh… before we begin, please allow me to introduced you to my new beta-reader / editor : zestychicken2  
(Psstt… Don't ask me who is Zestychicken1, I don't know it)

So here it is… your moment to zen…

* * *

**!... Part of the Act …!  
… … …**

"And nooooow… I am sure the couples on the floor would like to seal this magical moment with a sweet kiss!" exclaimed the announcer out of nowhere. "Let's start with our special couple of the night, Aerith and Leon."

The way Leon looked at it, it seemed less like a romantic announcement, and more of a game show host calling down contestants. Instantly after that thought, a spotlight fell on them and everyone shifted their attention towards the center expecting the special couple to kiss each other.

"Oh hellllll noooo..." Leon muttered under his breath.

"Not good, not good, not good at all!" Aerith complained, as she placed her palm on her cheek, biting her lip as nerves gnawed at her stomach.

It had taken a lot just to get Leon to tolerate her these days, but this? This is pushing it too far. Could she expect anything from him?

Everyone was looking at them but they were looking at each other. They just gaped at each other like deer staring into the headlights of an approaching truck.

* * *

(Somewhere else in present time)

It would be injustice to the atmosphere to call it quiet, but compared to the party it was much more tranquil here. No loud music, no blinding lights, and, certainly, no staring eyes… it was them, just them… and few random heartless, but that was completely beside the point.

Even though it defied the normal convention of the word "alone," both Aerith and Leon believed that they were alone in this little world… The atmosphere was truly romantic…Water flowing nearby provided the background music… A little opening on the roof provided adequate light sponsored by the moon and stars in form of gentle luminance… The frogs, the heartless, and some creature unknown even to biologists provided a rhythmic tune… On top of all that, the top-notch seating arrangement was provided by a tree which had unnaturally grown out of place and way out of proportion.

It was truly a blissful place for a couple who had escaped from a highly social activity known as a party. With nobody in sight, and with Aerith by his side, this place, this world, was like a utopia for Leon… but for some unromantic simpletons this place was simply known as the underground cavern.

In this isolation they were happy just to have each other. They were seated side by side looking at the sky, listening to their melodic silence. The atmosphere provided a tune only nature could hold, any shift of a human trace corrupting the balance, and penetrating the beauty.

Leon shifted slightly, leaning backwards towards the trunk of the darkened tree with his hands spread out beside him leisurely. His head automatically drooped to one side as his eyes shifted to the girl next to him.

The brunette's normally bright emerald eyes were closed as she tilted towards his figure, her head finding a comfortable spot in the crook of his neck. She managed to wriggle her way into using Leon's arm as though it were the back of a chair, and he found they molded together almost perfectly.

One thing which further united these two individuals was their common activity… Thinking. They were both engaged in reminiscing the evens which had taken place merely hours ago and had changed their lives permanently. Although… One would not realize that by looking at Leon.

Through appearance, Leon's thoughts must not have been of joy and pleasure as his expression never changed for its stoic self. Things had started close to disaster for the brunette, but he figured maybe… Just _maybe_ it could have turned out worse. Stealing a quick glance to the young woman resting beside him, so serene it seemed she was asleep, he smiled. Yes… Things could have been worse, but he didn't dare show this through his features. He'd rather no one knew that…

* * *

_Flashback to the party…_

With hundreds of eyes scrutinizing them, the time had practically come to a standstill. Even though the girl loved quiet, this was plain creepy. After evaluating her options, Aerith realized there was no way out… And for which she was partially glad.

While still in her trance she experienced something which she was not prepared for… Heck, she wouldn't have been able to prepare for a kiss from _Leon_ of all people... Even in next 10 light-years... Possibly longer…

To avoid any unnecessary provocations, Leon took matter into his own hand and he finally kissed her…

(Noooo… not THAT kiss)

If they ever introduced _"The World's __F__astest __K__issing__ C__ontest"_ in Olympics, Squall's kiss would definitely take the bronze, silver, and gold prize for it. If one blinked… They would missed it… It was that prompt.

He gave a quick peck on Aerith's cheek, completely stunning her. This made Leon wonder… "_If my kiss possesses the power to stun someone, then perhaps I should try this strategy on the heartless…_"

Raising an eyebrow slightly at this thought, wondering where exactly it came from, he quickly shook his head to clear any excess thoughts… And he would need that to process the next set of information.

In a chorus of mild boos and grunting noise of disapproval of just _what _exactly they had just seen, the room was silence as the announcer spoke again, "No… When I said kiss, I meant the reeeeeeal kiss!" he clarified, sounding as though it were so obvious, Leon would have liked to hit him with something.

"Kiss???" Leon spat out the word as if it was a name of some disgusting disease.

Aerith flinched next to him, her eyes narrowing in a self – worry.

"I don't mind so much the kiss, but in public?" She stated her concern barely audible.

Leon arched an eyebrow in curiosity but did not pursue the matter further. There was something much more important he had to figure out… And that was just how to get out of this mess. Ever so slowly in his mind, he almost blamed the just as confused person standing next to him.

To Aerith, kissing Leon in public would more or less seal her fate, she reflected. For once Aerith couldn't understand her own emotions. Deep down inside, this was the moment she'd been waiting for… No - this is the moment she'd been _longing_ for.

Even more so, her own words, "I don't mind so much the kiss," certainly came out instinctively, astounding her as well. But, at equivalent time, this was the moment she was most terrified of.

The loyalist party in her head still protested and rallied for Cloud while the "Leonist" party was certainly a force to be reckoned with. Lately, her Leonist party had acquired an overwhelming majority so this rather awkward situation was strangely welcomed.

Leon, meanwhile, has conjured up, what he thought, was a legit counter argument… A perfect lie, or an escape route per say, for avoiding this heart throbbing situation. "A-As much as I'd like to… I can't kiss Aerith." he announced lamely, a shocking (although still small) amount of stutter in his voice.

His statement suddenly took Aerith by surprise, her breath catching abruptly in her throat… Leon's one line had effectively slaughtered Aerith's party mood. That one line had knocked all the wind out of her, and her devoted Leonist party supporters. Somehow those words hurt her much more than they should have. Her eyes prickled, and she prayed she didn't cry.

"I-I had my tooth fixed yesterday and my dentist said that a kiss could be infectious and could even cause septic… so I shouldn't kiss anyone for at least one week." he said stating his case.

At his point Leon had managed to achieve complete silence in the hall. Was it a result of an ingenious argument or a stupefying excuse, no one knew.

But one thing was clear; it was an obvious lie and a lousy one too. When this was assumed by a certain bubbly ninja, a loud howl broke out… Of course, there was only one who was laughing. It just so happened to be the one person who didn't care, and the one person who could taunt him forever for it.

At that very same moment, he tried to snuff out that subconscious growl "Yuffie…" in his mind, stomping out all gory ways to murder her… For the moment.

Perhaps Leon saw, after that now stifled laughter, it was one ghastly lie. So in an effort to add more credibility to his lie, he added, "And my zoologist also advised that a kissing is the interchange of salivary bacteria and I must avoid it all cost for at least one more week…" By the end of the sentence, he was trailing into silence.

Why Leon was seeing a zoologist would perhaps remain as one of the greatest mysteries of mankind.

_End of Flashback_

* * *

_(Present)  
_  
Shaking slightly, the chocolate brown haired woman snickered, still leaning on Leon's shoulder. She would never let him live that one down.

"What?" he inquired sounding absolutely uninterested, but that's how he usually sounded anyway.

"Nothing!" she replied innocently after chortling some more.

A microscopic smile graced his lips as he had a faint idea of what she was thinking about. He closed his eyes and his head naturally shifted out of reflex, his cheek resting on her soft locks of hair.

* * *

_Flashback to the party…_

_"Kissing Aerith in public!!! Now that's something I was__ wholly __not expecting… not so soon anyway…"_ Fortunately for Leon, his steadfast companions never abandoned his side. His personal advisor D. Leon (little, imaginary, devil Leon), one half of his annoying consciousness, was at his service.

_Look man, the old man (St. Leon) is sleeping, so this is our chance. If you ever thought of making a move on Aerith, this is THE time.  
_  
"_I-I can't kiss Aerith in public… that would strain our relationship_" he tried to reason with himself.

_No, no, _no_… It's quite the opposite. _His half conscious laughed._ Hypothetically speaking, if you were to kiss Aerith in private… THAT would jeopardize your relationship. But, this… kissing in public could simply be labeled as the part of the act. I'm telling you, this is a chance to commit a crime and go unpunished, for sure!_ It's ingenious… I'm surprised you didn't think of it yourself!

_"No… But… W-What if she does not love me? I-I still don't know what her true feelings are… I can't take this risk__.__"_ he divulged, adding for extra effect just to dodge the situation in hand, "I love her."

He could hear the voice sigh, and felt a strong urge to mentally kick himself.

_Honestly man… how many time have you prayed for this marriage, for this family, and for this pretended love to be real? ….heck, I__'ve__ even lost the count of it._

_"Y__eah__, you always sucked at math…_" Leon retorted to shut up his annoying consciousness. _"I think I'll take the safer route and just kiss her on cheek__.__"_

_D'oh! You robbed a bank and all you walked out with is a check book? What's wrong with you?_

_"I wish I knew…" _He sighed miserably and trailed, hoping to think for a moment about what was just about to happen.

He did something which he wasn't sure he had courage to do it. For the first time in his life he had taken a romantic initiative… He gathered courage to finally kiss her… or rather gave a quick peck on her cheek… but technically, it was still a kiss…

Had it not been announced that they were kissing; most of audience would have failed to interpret what Leon was trying to do out there.

Well… He thought it was a kiss anyways. He'd tried, hadn't he?  
_  
End Flashback_

* * *

_(Present) _

He opened his eyes when the petite figure next to him suddenly quivered. His gaze fixated on Aerith and he cocked his head slightly, straightening for the time being, "Cold?" he asked showing obvious signs of concern.

Aerith suddenly got a chill as temperature had plummeted over a matter of minutes. She just nodded to Leon's question, and instinctively, Leon put his left arm around her and pulled her closer surprisingly not receiving any slight hesitance. She snuggled close to Leon, finding herself becoming comfortably warm as the moments flashed by.

She situated herself so her head still claimed the crook of his neck, but now she leaned backwards on him, so his arm was securely and protectively around her, his jacket blocking out the window.

The close proximity between those two was paradoxically comforting and painful at the same time. They were both joyous to be so close to each other, but at the same time their insecurity separated them immensely. While she was struggling to let go of her past and embrace the present, he was concerned about his future in the eventuality of being rejected. In the company of each other, they were still alone…

Hence silence was the only means of communication. Both felt that they had left "acting" quite behind them and what they felt was real, honest, and sincere. They knew they loved each other but were too shy or too afraid to admit it. They were comfortable with each other emotionally, but now they were entering a new realm of being comfortable with each other physical as well.

* * *

_Flashback to the party…_

The moment Leon's lips brushed against her cheek, her hand instinctively went up to the blushing flesh. At one point she even had to pinch herself to make sure that she wasn't dreaming or hallucinating.

But it was real… Leon had really kissed her…

Naturally, the Leonist Party in her head was over the moon, but at the same time, the loyalist party did not forget to stab at her heart.

Her emotions were going wild. Some part of her advocated to confess her love for Leon while other just wanted to run away and hide from the world. To confess her love to Leon would be like wagering her past with Cloud. If he accepts her love then she would be released from chains of her past, but _i__f_ he rejects it then she would have a past she can't return to and a present she can't live with.

Even amidst this chaos, her mind was playing on a different frequency altogether. "I wonder how Leon would test like?" she wondered for a moment biting her lips before thousands of judgments flooded her mind once again.

She was bombarded with various thoughts and numerous emotions, in that instance, yet none of them were distinct and clear. In that chaos of moment she did something rather primal than rational.

_End of flash back_

* * *

_(Present) _

He suddenly decided to break the silence, "Aerith… I… I-I'm… S-Sorry… I'm… really sorry…" he stammered.

To Leon's surprise she giggled in rather playful manner, "It wasn't your fault, silly!" She breathed, sounding almost relieved at the level she could maintain her steady voice.

"But… I-" He was interrupted with the girl rolling her eyes.

"Squall, it was just a kiss… allright? Really, it's no big deal" she reassured.

_"Just a kiss! Does she even know how nerve wrecking that experience was?"_ he thought almost bitterly.

* * *

_Flashback to the party…_

In that chaos of moment she did something rather primal than rational. She autonomously moved up to Leon, who was spouting lies like a professional politician, grabbed him by the collar and proceeded to shut him up with a kiss – a long, and actual kiss.

Although she kept on reminding herself that this kiss was just to get them out of this mess and not for pleasure, the moment their lips meet, she forgot it all.

Bewildered, shocked, thunderstruck, astonished, flabbergasted, or any other adjective in the dictionary weren't enough to express what Leon felt at the moment. After initial conflict, he too finally kissed her back.

Uncultivated cheering could be heard in the backdrop, but at this instant the only ones who existed in the world were Leon and Aerith.

_End of flash back_

* * *

_(Present) _

"You know something…" she paused as if reflecting on some nostalgic memory. "You are a horrible kisser, Squall." she said rather bluntly, and then proceeded to laugh out to her heart's content while Leon gave a rare childish pout.

She tilted her head towards Leon to see his expressions and her laughter amplified.

"Hey, it was my first kiss… ever…" he defended. "Besides, it's not my fault that I am not as experienced as you are in this department." he countered once her laughing subsided.

"Hey!!! What's that supposed to mean?" she asked being startled by his response.

She pulled up from her resting position and twisted around to come face to face with the man who was about to say something controversial, she was sure of it.

"Well…" he started, "You had a boyfriend before, right? So naturally you would be more experienced with all the kissing and hugging and… the romantic stuff…" he trailed off in a vain attempt to act nonchalant.

"Just what are you accusing me of mister?" she sounding a bit edgy and a bit offended too; it was confirmed when she crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing into mere slits.

"_Did I say something which I wasn't supposed to?"_ he wondered with a sinking feeling. But much to his relief Aerith broke into her usual smile soon after.

"Yeah… you may be right…" she confessed biting her lip. "I did like a boy before… It was more of a crush back then… I was still naïve and young…."

Honoring each other's privacy, they had mutually agreed not to discuss their past. "You don't have to talk about it," he suggested sounding as cold as ever.

"But I want you to know about it," she insisted. "I want you to know who I am."

"I know who you are now… I don't need to know who you were in the past in order to love you," he pointed out, matter-of-factly, not realizing that he had actually used the word "love" in his sentence. That made it twice in one day… a new record indeed.

Aerith, naturally, caught that and was flabbergasted to say the least. "_Did he actually say that he loves me?_" she wondered.

"_No… he must be in his 'Lets-play-couple-mode'_" she reasoned with herself. She classified this incident as '_to-be-analyzed-further_' section and decided to carry on their current conversation.

"Hey aren't couples supposed to share their secrets? Hmm?" she asked a question which required no answer for Leon.

Yet, he answered, "Secrets which don't give happiness aren't worth discovering." He sounded a little too aggravated by her insistence on sharing where she received the experience.

_"Also you still haven't accepted my love… so I am not sure if we are considered as a couple yet…_" he painfully rationalized.

"Still… I want you to listen," she persisted.

Listening was one thing Leon was exceptionally good at, so he duly obliged.

She broke her eye contact with Leon and look far away into the emptiness, "how long it has been? Nine years…"

She once again leaned back on Leon for support, like she always did… and he too accepted it, like he always did.

"He was a lot like you… very quiet… very shy… and very strong." she recollected. "Oh… he wielded a large sword… and he would use it protect people around him." she added as an afterthought.

She sniggered at some distant memory and then started, "You know… our first meeting was when he literary fell through the roof of the house I use to live." After a moment she added more, "Everything was nice and peaceful back then," she said bring her outstretched legs close to her to get more warmth.

Leon was hastily losing interest in this, as his mind was preoccupied with other thoughts. And seriously, which husband, or lover for that matter, would like to listen to his wife's old love affair…? No one would… including Leon.

But, Aerith continued, "He had lost his all of his memories when his world was destroyed. But after he came to Traverse Town, he started acting strange. He started losing control of himself. His darker half started taking over him gradually."

_"All right… I quit… This is getting boring even for my standards…"_ his mind officially resigned and unanimously votes to tune out the rest of the story. But in theory, could it be considered tuning it out because it was boring… Or because he was jealous. That thought began to eat at him, so he reared his mind in a dissimilar direction.

Leon had no interest in hearing about Aerith's past love story as he was more concerned about his own love affair.

Leon closed his eyes to relive his own love story…

* * *

_Flashback to the party…_

After their unanticipated, yet exceedingly awaited kiss, they were both frozen in the moment. Aerith had let go of Leon, but he was holding Aerith. He was terrified that if he let go of Aerith now, after being with her for past seven years, and after he finally had her, he would never get her back.

His hands were stationary on her shoulders and eyes locked on her face. He was fearful that if he let go of her, he might never get to grasp her protectively in his arms again. He was experiencing an irrational fear that someone or something might steal her away from him… so he was reluctant to let her go.

_"Forgive me Aerith… for loving you… I know this is a fake wedding and a figment of a love story… but God… I love you so much. I know it's just supposed to be an act, but I can act no longer…"_ he silently confessed in his head.

"Would you please forgive me Aerith?" the very last past of this though had escaped as words. Aerith, still astounded by the ongoing events, wasn't able to comprehend what he was attempting to say.

_"You trusted me with this role, so I must fulfill my duty of acting... If I love you now… then I would be just using you. I would be just taking advantage of your close proximity… I would be taking advantage of your kindness… and that is wrong… It is immoral… For the sake of morality I will try keep my feeling out of the way of my acting__…I will try, at least_" he determined somberly.

_Stop… Just… stop it… stop pretending Leon… stop pretending as if it is not __happening__… How many times __have__ you secretly confessed your love for Aerith when she is not listening? How much time have you spend __gazing__ at her, admiring her, when she is not looking? How many times have you sought for a reason to be with her? How many times have you suppressed the urge to hold __the girl__ in your arms? How long… just how _long_ are you going to keep suppressing your emotions for the sake of your duties? _That voice of devil in his head came back with a vengeance.

_"As long as I must…"_

_You know something… you are no lion… Lions are strong, noble, fierce, and most importantly, they are brave… unlike you, they are not scared.  
_  
_"I'm not scared of anyone…" __He growled a warning to the influence._

_Of course… but you are__ frightened__ of her… you are scared of losing her. You think that this dream of yours might just end someday…. You are afraid of waking up and not seeing her by your side. You are _petrified_ that one day she might leave you.  
_  
_"I trust her__…__" __His own voice, trying so hard to defend himself, was now meek and diminutive; it sounded pathetic._

_Certainly… but you don't trust yourself. You are afraid that if she rejects your love, you will not be able to bare it. That hurt, that pain, that suffering would be intolerable. How many times have you wished to open your heart to her? But your heart… __Y__ou are afraid to __unbolt__ it… __l__ions have feelings..."_

"Even

_You know what is more __poignant__, Squall? It is the fact that you are giving up even before trying… that is so unlike you. You are worried that even if she does accept you love… you are not good enough for her. Don't just assume that you are going to fail, at least give her chance to fail you. __He wasn't even interrupted, as he knew that odd devil had a point._

"But…"

_Do you even realize how much time you spend thinking about her? Do you understand how much you care about her? You can't just _ignore_ what you__'re__ feeling for her. The pain that you feel for her, the joy that you gain for her, is all real… So stop pretending as if it's not happening. For god sake Leon just admit that you are madly in love with her. _ he asked uncertainly.

"So what should I do?"

_Remember what Nike says? "Just do it." __Leon thought it was a poor attempt at a joke, but it was the thought of making him feel better that counted.__  
_  
Influenced and intoxicated by his consciousness, he finally decided to wager his heart, his life…

His mind was bombarding million thoughts in his head, but none registered. His bottled up emotions were on the hyper drive. Every emotion which he had suppressed for so long was pouring out of his heart like a wild torrent. In this moment of chaos, he knew no rationality, as his primary instincts took over him.

He wrapped his hands around her neck and seized the moment with another kiss.

_End of flash back  
_

_

* * *

_

_(Present) _

"So he went out to in search for his darkness. That's when we made a promise. I was only 15 back then, so I didn't know what I was getting into, I guess," she continued, completely oblivious to the fact Leon had no intentions of paying attention to her story any longer.

"Uh-hmm" he acknowledged and then went back into this dream world. He reminisced what happened next… perhaps the bravest and dumbest thing he had ever done…

* * *

_Flashback to the party…_

After breaking up from their second kiss Leon was still reluctant to let go of Aerith.

With his hands around her neck, with passion in his eyes, his emotions in overdrive, and his sincerity never more refined, he did something which would have taken years to do it rationally… that is… he confessed his love for Aerith.

"Aerith… I love you… I love you more than anything else in this world… I love you more than myself…" he declared sincerely.

Aerith had no reply to this… She was stunned by a kiss from Leon initially, but his affirmation just prolonged this effect, not to mention her stunned expression was perfectly suited for this occasion.

He finally let go off Aerith and stepped back.

If anyone had a doubt that Leon wasn't thinking straight, his next action proved their theory right. Was it because of the influential speech by D. Leon, or the absence of St. Leon, or perhaps it was the effect of the champagne he had earlier, he did not know. Regardless of the cause, his action held tremendous effect. This was the only impulsive thing he had ever done in his life. Only time would tell if he admire it or lament it.

The ever resourceful Leon pulled out his Griever ring and placed it in palm of his right hand. He cocked his head slightly to his right, outstretched his hands with his left hand under his right, and with the ring placed in his palm… He offered it to Aerith… on one simple condition, "Will you marry me?"

_End of flash back_

* * *

**A/N: **

Aweee… Should Aerith accept or reject? What do you say?

The enormous noticeable difference in the writing quality and style is thanks to my editor.

Long time no write. So please take a moment to review it as it is the only form of contact I have with you, the readers. Looking forward for hearing from you.

Thanks!


	20. Episode 20 Part of the Act Part II

**!... Part of the Act (Part II)…!  
… … …**

* * *

_Flashback to the party…_

The ever resourceful Leon pulled out his Griever ring and placed it in palm of his right hand. He cocked his head slightly to his right, outstretched his hands with his left hand under his right, and with the ring placed in his palm… He offered it to Aerith… on one simple condition, "Will you marry me?"

_End of flash back  
_  


* * *

_(Present)_

Aerith continued her story. "And then… you came into my life," she said with her natural, bright smile.

She didn't mind sharing her past with Squall but somehow talking about this particular segment, the love/crush segment of her past, made her extremely uncomfortable. But that was a personal challenge which she knew she had to overcome eventually.

"Hey Aerith… do you still have my ring with you?" he said interrupting her.

"No… I don't have your ring," She played up her expression completely nonchalant, as she tried to keep a straight face.

Her answer completely shocked Leon; that was totally unexpected. "I don't have your ring… Because from the moment you gave it to me, it became mine!" she declared with a childish innocence.

"Isn't it too big for you?" he stated his concern.

"Well yeah… It's kind of big for my fingers," she smiled for a moment, debating on if she should exaggerate, "including my thumb…"

"So what are you going to do about it?"

"I am going to keep it close to my heart," The brunette's reply came instantaneously.

"Hmm?" His curiosity peeked as he leaned closer to her.

"Look," she showed it to him rather than explaining it.

She had put the ring on her necklace which she constantly wore. The Griever ring, from then on, served as a pendent which stayed close to Aerith's heart.

"Hmm… I was planning to buy you a new one… but I guess I don't need-" Leon wasn't able to finish his sentence as Aerith interrupted him midway.

"I'll take that too…" she said grinning mischievously.

"Women… I never have, and never will understand them." he admitted ruefully.

_Don't worry Leon, no one does… his conscious added._

* * *

_Flashback to the party…_

He offered his Griever ring to Aerith… on one simple condition, "Will you marry me?"

_You wedding ring is called Griever… how creative of you Leon._

Leon wasn't really known for his formalities, not even in proposing… But his sincerity and his actions spoke volumes of his devotion.

This was indeed the most important question Leon had ever asked, and the most major risk he had ever taken.

As for Aerith? Her thoughts skidded to a hault. Her mind was filled with unanswered questions, she feared wouldn't be revealed before she had to give an answer. She didn't know if she should burst into sobs, or dance with profound joy; she wasn't sure if she should scream and run like a flock of birds or jump into his arms and never let go.

The flower-loving girl couldn't figure out if the man was actually confessing his love or if it was all part of the act. If, by some flawed universe that happened to make things difficult for her, Leon was serious then she hadn't a clue whether she should provoke the flames, or stomp them out. If Squall was serious then she did not know whether to tender his heart or to tear it apart.

For once, Aerith was at a complete loss as to what to do. She was confused, and for the first time she felt betrayed by her own feelings. Nothing could help her with this decision, which could literally make or break their relationship…

But, the one thing she did know was that she was blushing furiously and was struggling to hold back her tears… Whether they were tears of joy or sorrow, she, once again, did not know.

Sadly for Squall, his honest confession and his sincere proposal was interpreted by Aerith as just an act. He wasn't able to figure out whether she misread his emotions or she chose to overlook his emotions. Rather depressingly, his first attempt at love had failed miserably as his lover clearly didn't recognize his pure and pious devotion.

But, something which, unfortunately, worked in his favor was that Aerith couldn't publicly deny his proposal… And that's when his stupidity dawned upon him.

So he immediately covered it up with a better lie than before, "Will you marry me...? Again, Aerith?"

This was perhaps the biggest screw-up he had ever had… Now, he would never distinguish her honest answer as the situation practically demanded her to agree.

Hearing those words Aerith was finally able to make some sense of what was going on. _"Oh, its an act... a good one too."_

She blinked twice before reacting, "For as long as I live, I would love you and none other… and I will marry you again and again and again for as long as I shall take birth on this earth, I would only love and marry only you Leon." Were they word of sincerity or words of repartee he did not know.

She finished it off in a rather playful manner, "It would be an honoring, Your Highness..." she said, bowing down in courtesy. That confirmed Leon's suspicion that she was still treating this like a part of the act.

Only Aerith knew the sincerity of her words. As much as she would like to deny it, whatever she said came straight for her heart.

_"I know I promised Cloud that I would wait for him. I told him that I would be his light. But… Squall is my light. Without his light my existence would mean nothing.  
_

"_I do want to remain faithful to our promise Cloud, I trying… I am trying really hard to avoid him, not to love him… but… I am sorry I just can't help it… I cannot stop loving him for the sake of keeping a promise I made seven years ago… I know it's not right… may be even immoral… but I do love him. No matter how much I tried to lie to myself, I know that I love him…"  
_  
"_Forgive me Cloud… " __Her mind began to swirl and mist with a seemingly everlasting pain; he had done this to her many times before, but nothing as bad as this._

_"No… But even so, for the sake of morality… I will try not to love him… or at least, not tell him…"  
_  
She loved Squall and there was no escaping from that reality. She had admitted to be in love with Leon. She had accepted his formal proposal to be his wife…

But oh how she wished that somehow she knew if Leon really meant it. At that moment, it was her absolute biggest desire in life to know just what Leon's thoughts were, and if she could have that, she would truly be the luckiest person in the universe. But she didn't know… She couldn't tell just by his unusual expression if he meant it, or if it was all part of the façade.

With that final and rather disturbing thought process, she accepted his ring and his formal proposal as everyone in the room cheered and applauded… except one individual… Good 'Ol Cid.

{Cid's perspective, unknown to Aerith or Squall}

"Oh (censored)…" Cid mumbled instinctively as his jaw dropped and his straw fell out of his mouth.

"What?" asked his ever-so-concerned friend Sid.

"Those idiots… they are madly in love with each other but they don't even know it. If they think that this was all part of the act then they are so (censored) up…" he trailed off.

"What the (censored) are you rambling about?" ask an utterly confused Sid.

"Nevermind…"

_End of flash back_

_

* * *

_

_(Present)_

"You know… that still doesn't change the fact that you are a horrible kisser, Squall," she playfully accused him again.

"With more opportunities and more practice, I am sure I can improve my skills… and perhaps one day even match your standards," he said with a playful undertone that completely shocked Aerith. This was the closest to flirting Squall has ever been.

With that he smiled, a genuine smile. The all illusive happiness finally seemed at ease with Leon.

_

* * *

_

_Flashback to the party… _

After dancing with Aerith… then kissing her twice then confessing his love… And to top it all off, proposing her all in the same night… The current situation had became rather uncomfortable… Not just for Leon, but for Aerith as well.

They had been there for most of the party; they had received their gifts, and they had complied with all the social norms… so if they were to disappear now, no one should have any objection.

They both were more or less thinking the same thing, so they kept on steeling glances at each other, as none of them had strength to maintain eye contact for long. With people surrounding them they just wanted to go away and hide and not be found again.

Leon somehow managed just that. But, as he was about to escape, someone caught him. "Where are you going?" Aerith asked from behind.

"I just want to be alone…" he said with a tinge of disappointment.

"Oh… good… then I am coming too!" she said enthusiastically.

'Did she not hear me right? Or she is unable to perceive the meaning of the word "alone?"' he wondered. "Whatever."

And that's how they ended up in this isolated, yet safe, section of the underground cavern.

_End of flash back_

_

* * *

_

_(Present)_

Reflecting on events on past few hours, he couldn't help but smile. The atmosphere had become calmer as the constant chatter of the frogs had also died down. It was so quiet and peaceful that he could even hear Aerith's shallow breaths as she had fallen asleep in his arms.

With Aerith on one side and his newly upgraded and remodeled gunblade (his gift from the townspeople) on the other, with nobody watching, except few harmless heartless on the other side of water which he didn't mind, this was truly an utopia for Leon…

There were only two regrets he had from this day, or rather this pleasant and unexpected night. One was that he wasn't able to get an honest reply from Aerith. He wasn't sure if she even realized that he wasn't acting, but making an honest plead from his humble heart.

The second being the ever irritating fact that he couldn't seek Yuffie out and kill her with all the gory ways he had imagined when she laughed in the dead silence. But at that moment, even that was at the back of his mind…

He wasn't sure what had gotten into him, which ultimately lead him to his love confession, and even a sudden proposal. But, one thing was sure, and that was that he wasn't about to repeat it anytime soon. He liked the way they were now, and he didn't want to risk changing it. This was a dream he certainly didn't wanted to wake up from.

He was fearful even with the prospect of being rejected by her. He didn't know what would happen if she ever rejected his love, and he didn't want to find out either. Yes… the mighty lion was scared of a harmless angel.

Leon too was starting to drift to sleep. This was more than enough happiness Leon could have possibly wished for… and he was not about to change it.

Not for anything in the world…

Yet, even in the company of bliss, Leon could not forsake of his despair. His mind kept on reminding him that this was all too good to be true, it was almost like a fairytale…and farytales are scary… to Leon at least.

He could not shake off the feeling that, perhaps, somewhere, something was wrong. One question which is going to bug him eternally is that since when did he get so lucky?

Luck and happiness is something which had always eluded Leon, but right now he was experiencing both and that felt rather odd.

He afraid that soon this dream might end… He believed that in the end all the good things and bad things alike… must end…

_

* * *

_

**_A/N:_**

_It's a rather short chapter, but a necessary one. Things pick up pace from here on as we get closer towards the end._

_And in next chapter Leon and Cloud finally comes face to face…_

**_Like always, please take a moment to review. I enjoy reading your reviews as much as you enjoy reading this fiction!_**

_Thanks!_


	21. Episode 21 Missing You

**!~ Missing You ~!**

Time… is a strange thing. It flies away when you are enjoying it, but it just drags along when you despise it. Leon and Aerith also felt the wrath of instantaneous moments passing them by. The next couple of months of their live were perhaps the happiest, and being true to its nature, time just soared away.

Sora, had sealed the keyhole. The heartless were a bitter and a forgotten history. Traveling in different worlds had become easier, thanks to a breakthrough in the latest gummy technology. Cid was pioneering the gummy block business and was rather successful in such a short period of time. Even King Mickey had paid them a visit and things had finally started looking promising.

From a personal perspective, Leon and Aerith couldn't have planned a better future themselves if tried. They, with the help of Cid, Yuffie, and Eiko, had managed to form a complete family in these two months. Leon role-played the husband, Aerith the wife, Cid –the grumpy old man-- played as father, Eiko enacted as daughter, and Yuffie –the odd one—was just Yuffie. She was too old to play as daughter, so she fulfilled the role of sister to Aerith. Together they formed, as they called it, a complete family. Although, they had lived together for quite a long while, they couldn't truly be tied together until now.

The union of Aerith and Leon as individuals was rather natural and subtle. They simply did not worry if they were acting or being honest anymore, as they both had the each other, and that's all that mattered. The formalities between them had progressively disappearing as they felt completely at ease with one another. Their relationship was somewhere in between of lovers and a married couple. They lived like they were smitten on the idea of lovers, but quarreled like a married couple. It was quite a sight to see.

But, the prime change of it all was in Eiko. She was the catalyst in bringing Leon and Aerith's family together. She was the string that connected to these varied individuals that would otherwise be lost without a path to each other. After her training with Merlin, she had become a potent magic user and a full-fledged summoner. Although… Her aim was still deadly, for her allies at least.

It was Leon's duty to drop her off and pick her up from the school. She then spent most of evening playing deviant games and tricks with Yuffie, and spent her nights with Aerith and Leon chatting… or as Leon would like to say… yapping… and after that, most of the time, she ended up crashing with them. But, something which instigated the family values in this Leonhart family was her initiative to call Leon "Dad" and Aerith "Mom."

In this role-playing game the actors had truly became one with their character. Their life was never so fulfilling and satisfactory before. Their life never looked more bright and promising before. Their world, Traverse Town, was finally at peace, and so were their lives.

But like everything else… all brilliant things _**had **_to end.

This was not a fairytale and Leon knew it.

After their unification, this was the first time they were being separated. Leon was going for the tournament, and Eiko was visiting her old, destroyed, home world with King Mickey and Merlin, leaving Cid, Yuffie and Aerith behind.

Yuffie was initially supposed to accompany Leon to the tournament, but she had spectacularly banged her foot into the door and broken her toe. With a cast enabling a funny walk, she had effectively ruled herself out of the tournament. It also meant that Leon was now the only person on the team, which he certainly did not mind.

With the hyperactive girl being ruled out of the tournament it opened the door of opportunity of taking Aerith with him.

Them being alone, and together where they'd have most of their time away from the formalities of life, and simply with each other sounded like the most appealing thing Leon had ever thought of in his entire life.

But, he did not pursue this idea further. Aerith wasn't fond at all of fighting and killing so he thought leaving her behind would be a better option. Besides, leaving her would be a nice reason to come back home. Something he, otherwise, might not have wanted to do so quickly.

It was the dreaded moment of departure.

Leon had released Aerith from his hug, but the woman was still clinging on to him. Slowly and reluctantly she let go off him.

Leon turned around to take his leave, but Aerith quickly grabbed his hand forcing him to turn back. Aerith examined his face one last time. She caresses his cheek and said ever-so-softly, "Comeback soon… I'll be waiting…"

Leon nodded in approval and gave a not-so-rare-any-longer smile.

"And safe!" she called in addendum.

"Daddyyyyyyy, Let's gooooooo!" Eiko yelled the whine from the window of King Mickey's gummy ship.

Leon glanced sideways to his limping partner and commanded, "Keep her safe until I return."

"Yes Sir!" Yuffie smirked, adding a mock salute.

He rolled his eyes, but nodded approvingly nevertheless and gave a gentle smile to Aerith before leaving.

King Mickey was supposed to drop Leon off to the Coliseum and then they would continue their journey to the former home of Eiko to see if that too was restored because of Sora's actions.

Both Yuffie and Aerith waved them good-bye as the gummy ship blasted off.

The black haired girl, still bitter by Leon's decision to not take Aerith with him, complained, "He is sooooo mean! Why didn't he take you with him?"

"Didn't you see what he was trying to do?" Aerith queried.

"Huh?"

"He wanted me to stay here… so he has a reason to return back" she explained letting the slightest of smiles grace her pink lips.

"Whatever you say Aerith, but I think men are just selfish. When something big happens, they say... '_It's too dangerous... You can't come!_' They treat women like we are weaklings!" Yuffie retorted.

"That's not true. Everyone, wants someone special waiting for them. Someone who will protect a place they can return to. If you don't have that peace of mind, then you would not be able to get anything done... Men try to fight it out as much as they can and then some...They're cute when they do that, aren't they? Besides…" She added with a smirk, "You are _weak_ Yuffie because your foot is broken…"

"Yeah… Whatever." She mumbled, glaring at the crack against her crippled foot. But her face light up again, as she looked at Aerith in horrified amazement, "He just left, and I'm already starting to sound like him!" She finished by waving her arms in the air for emphasis.

Aerith giggled and ruffled her hair playfully, which Yuffie so despised, "Silly."

* * *

_**Olympus Coliseum**_

"This place has changed significantly from my last visit…" Leon noted, gazing around absorbing his surroundings.

This place was bustling with people. It was very noisy and a bit chaotic atmosphere all around. People were moving in all random directions and socializing at every corner. Some smaller kids pestered their parents to sit on the ride while others were busy emptying out the pockets of their parents by purchasing useless stuff. There was a loud music in the background which he was sure no one cared about. People were wearing, according to Leon, comical clothes all around. At times like this, Leon missed his hushed, and serene, underground cavern more than anything else.

Some pretty unimaginative people might even call this place a fair.

He had arrived a day earlier than the scheduled time of the tournament to start. It was nightfall, but he wasn't concerned about his temporary lodging as the tournament organizers had allocated them, the elite warriors, a special room in a hotel by the arena. Since it was supposed to be a short stay, Leon was carrying only a duffle bag so he had no urgency to reach to the hotel to put away his bare minimum luggage.

There was only one thing on his agenda before he could retreat for the night. He was entrusted by Cid to deliver a package, a strange gummy block, to the owner of a bar in the city.

With a destination in his mind, he set out to do the only thing on his 'To do list.'

The delivery boy, Leon, had successfully navigated his way through the hoard of crowd. He for the most part had managed to avoid bumping or even brushing with oncoming people in the crowd.

With large flashing neon lights, finding the bar was simple. It was called "Barrant's 7th Heaven."

After examining the arrangement from the outside Leon inferred that the top terrace must be used as the restaurant while the ground must have accommodated the bar. His further inspection of the structure and the locality was interrupted by a loud scream followed by a louder thump.

He saw a large figure flying out of the entrance of the bar crashing onto the gigantic trashcan outside. Leon noticed that the source of that human projectile was black shoe which had retreated after kicking that man. He had barely blinked when another figure crashed landed near the same area, this time followed by a petite leather gloved fist.

Leon gulped unknowing and silently cursed Cid for sending him to such dangerous place.

"_Finding the bar was the easy part, but to find the will to enter is the hard part__…_" he grimly concluded after seeing flying humans out of the bar. If there was trouble inside, he wanted no part of it.

Naturally, a large crowd had gathered out by now thanks to the commotion.

Leon, who had tried his best to avoid the crowd so far, was now in middle of a crowd. Dejected, he shook his head with a sigh and moved on, "_Let's get the over with._"

With that stoke of determination he made his way through the mingling, but small, population and finally entered the bar.

Thankfully, it was a no-smoking bar, but the music was a torturously loud for his ears. "_I'd die if I had to work here in this noise._"

To the folks enjoying themselves in the bar, the atmosphere was filled with music thanks to large speakers all around the bar. To Leon, it was not music but just loud, uncultivated, and uncivilized noise. This further boosted his willpower to get the hell out of that place ASAP.

He strolled up to the counter where drinks were being served.

The room itself was a deep wood with carved tables that seemed to be glued to the floor. The rickety stairs creaked as waitresses and men walked along them, trying to get to where they were supposed to be. The clanking of glasses and the chatting of voices wafted through the cheeseburger and beer smelled air, making Leon slightly dizzy. He wanted to get out of the dim lit place with a hasty retreat.

He then called out for the bartender but his voice was barely audible to himself. He screamed this time just to get his voice across to the bartender. But he wasn't sure that the pretty blonde girl serving the drinks who was only a few feet away had heard him.

He was about to call her again when someone placed a hand on his shoulder. Out of pure reflex, he turned around in an instance with his eyes fixating on the person who had dared to lay their hand on him with ferocity. But the intensity in his eyes immediately softened when he found out that the person who had committed that atrocity of touching him was a rather… beautiful… lady…

[Snapshot 1]

Her stunning features slowly processed in his mind. Her skin was fair – a major contrast with her raven black hair cascading half way down her back. She had very peculiar red eyes. She wore a simple white T-shirt with a sleeveless, black, leather vest over it, with matching leggings and a skirt that was mid thigh in the front, and down to her ankles in the back, complete with black and white loose converse high tops. To go along with her attire she wore black gloves and black shoes.

She was holding two leather gloves in her hand and was wearing black shoes.

That last piece of information caught his attention. Upon seeing that Leon realized that the stamp on that drunken man's face that soared out of the bar must have been from those shoes. The two leather gloves she was holding in her other hand further solidified his theory that the person who had propelled those men was that female.

Someone else might have been offended from Leon's unblinking, almost rude, stare, but the lady in black was, unfortunately, use to such harsh treatment. She retreated her hand and asked in a friendly manner, "Can I help you?"

She then leaned closer to him, their noses only few centimeters apart, and said in a rather stern voice, "Or would you like to join those bumps outside?" By the end of her sentence she left no hints of playfulness or friendliness. It was a warning, a clear warning.

[Snapshot 2]

Leon blinked couple of time before finally catching up to what was going on. He immediately apologized, "I-I'm sorry! I don't need any drinks. I'm here to—"

No sooner had Leon made his intentions clear about not wanting any drinks, she interrupted him in a mid sentence, "So you are like those bums!" Without missing a beat she put a glove on her left fist all the while giving a nasty look to the man in black.

Leon's jaw clenched and his left hand formed a fist. He was autonomously getting ready for the defense in case of an attack. He relaxed his right hand lying on the table, with fingers slightly curved, in case he had to block an assault.

But, nothing of a sort happened.

Rather strangely, the girl in black broke into a playful laughter leaving no traces of her earlier seriousness. She then extended her bare right hand to the stranger in front of her showing a polite gesture of greeting.

But, Leon being Leon, did not responded.

But, this girl was not willing to give up just yet. She managed to squeeze her fingers into the half curled fist of Leon and practically forced him into a handshake. But seeing unresponsiveness from Leon she placed her left hand on the other side of his hand, now grabbing his hand with both of hers. She then proceeded to forcefully giving him a handshake with both her hands.

[Snapshot 3]

Leon, reluctant at first, acknowledged her gesture.

"_Dam__n__! I'm getting soft. I would have practically killed the person who would have done anything similar to this few months ago. But now… it's all your fault Aerith. Your gentleness is rubbing __off__ on me._"

"Hi, my name is Tifa. Tifa Lockhart. I am the bartender and the bounder of this bar!" she said with a cheerful smile and a tinge of pride.

"Leon." No sentence, no explanation required. For him one word answers a lot of questions. Did anyone realize how easy and wonderful the world would be if Leon taught English?

"Nice to meet you!" she giggle with her charming smile.

This time he just nodded, no words needed. Did anyone realize how straightforward and fantastic humanity would be if Leon was in charge of worldwide communications?

"Can I get you something?" she asked.

"_I don't drink… anymore… I guess. Last time I drank that champagne I proposed to Aerith, I am not going to do anything stupid like that again__,_" he thought determinedly.

"Water…" He grumbled, eyes set downcast on the table. He didn't feel like talking much, nothing unusual there. He never feels like talking anyway.

"Who goes to a bar and drinks water?" she questioned with a chuckle, not trying to hide her amusement at all.

"I do," he said with a shrug. It was a simple and an honest reply.

She smiled at his odd antics before attending to her job, "As you wish milord."

She gave him his glass of water and attended a few other customers.

"So what brings you here?" she said leaning towards Leon, startling him a bit.

"I am here to see Fidelin Barrant…"

"Oh… the boss is not here today. Anything I can help with?" she offered politely.

"No… it's okay. I need to see him in person," he said with a nod to emphasize his point.

"Then… you'll have to come back tomorrow. He's usually here in the morning," she informed after pondering for a moment.

"Okay," saying that he stood up. His business here was done, for now, so had no need to stay here any longer. His ears demanded him to retreat to some nice, quiet, and peaceful atmosphere.

As he was about to leave, he stopped and pondered for a moment. _"Am I supposed to give her tips, for serving me water? The water was most likely free so how do I decide how much to tip her? Isn't there some mathematical formula what determined that? I don't know the norm."_

He could never tell with places such as these, "_Oh the cruel humanity and its ugly complexness._"

He finally decided to give her a tip so he leaned closer to Tifa. "This noise is few decibels more than the optimal human hearing capacity. You should tell them to turn it down, it's bad for your ears in a long run" he advised.

"_Nice tip, Squall_" he subconscious added affirmatively. _"Not only it will prolong her hearing capacity, it would also benefit all the customers in the bar._"

For giving such a wonderful "tip" Leon subconsciously patted himself.

"What?" she asked completely baffled. This stranger, his strange behavior, and now his strange talks, made no sense to her.

Assuming that everything was alright Leon continued, "Can you tell me which way the arena hotel is?"

"Oh, that's an easy one."

"_Finally something which makes sense_" she thought.

"You go out of the bar then make a right. Go through the crowd till the end of the fair, and then take another right. Once you get past the residential area make a left and you'll see a big sign which says, '_Welcome to the Galbadia Hotel'_!" she explained animatedly.

Leon opened his mouth to say something, but Tifa beat him to it, "Don't worry, it's easier than it sounds."

"Did you just say, 'go through the crowd?'" he asked appallingly.

"Yeah. What's wrong with that?" she asked slightly baffled. This guy never seized to amaze her.

"Isn't there a way around it? A way to avoid going through the crowd I mean? A much quieter way to the hotel?" he asked, stating his concern.

"Oh, I get it!" she said with a smile. "Not a people's person, are you?" she teased lightly.

"It's the noise which gets to me, mostly," he replied sternly. "But that too… I guess," he added quietly.

"All right, so here is what you do," she once again started vivaciously. "Go out of the bar and make a left. You'll be in the back alleyway. Keep going straight until you can't go any further. Then make a left and then take the second right and then—"she paused in mid-sentence.

"You know what? Forget it. I'll walk you there!" she declared, placing her hands on her hips.

"Don't worry, I'll find it…" he ensured, declining the nice offer.

"No, it's okay. I have to go there anyway, to see Cloud. So if you don't mind then I can accompany you till there" she offered with a smile.

"But don't you have work?" he pointed out. It was another one of his tricks to decline her offer.

"My shift was over half hour ago, but those bozos showed up as I was about to leave," she clarified after wiping her hands off. One thing Tifa did not know was how to give up.

_"I could go on my own and bump into hundreds of people on my way… and the noise. Or I could go with her… in silence. I think the latter one is a better deal" he concluded._  
"Okay. I guess…" he said after a contemplating with his inner self. By that time, Tifa was already by the door motioning him to come along.

"Plus a hot chick in a dark alley… if you catch my drift" added his friendly-imaginary-subconscious-companion devil Leon hovering around his left shoulder.

"Don't listen to that devil Leon. You are a married man!" argued the St. Leon popping up on his right shoulder. "But… I do like quiet and peace… hmm…"

"Okayyyyy" he pushed himself off the chair, picked up his duffle and following her lead, he entered the alleyway.

[Snapshot 4]

* * *

Their journey for the most part was relatively quiet and Leon appreciated that. Rather than walking alone, Tifa appreciated any non-pervert company, which Leon provided adequately.

It was a dimly lighted alleyway with no one else in sight besides them. They were both wearing black so they blended in the background nicely. Neither of them talked much, so they blended into the quiet atmosphere nicely too. If Leon wasn't so… Leon-ish and if Tifa wasn't so you-touch-me-without-my-consent-and-I'll-kill-you type then it might have been almost romantic for some other couple.

After trespassing on someone's property and jumping through a few fences, they were out in the residential area. Much to Leon's relief, they had managed to avoid the crowd and the noise which accompanied it.

"So what brings you here?" she asked, almost startling Leon as she shattered the silence around them into a million fragments.

"Tournament," he was back to his answer-in-one-word mode. Tifa wasn't particularly enjoying the one-word answer game, but she did not let it bother her either.

"You're a fighter!?" she exclaimed excitedly.

_"Was that a question or a statement? I can't figure it out." _Whichever it was, it certainly brought a tinge of smile on Leon's face.

"I am fighting too" she said proudly. "Hey! What if we have to fight against each other?" she asked getting alarmed, her red eyes getting unnaturally wide.

"Then we fight," was his simple and ice-cold reply.

"Urgh… you are no fun!" she complained shaking her head, yet she still couldn't smother off a small smile on her face.

Tifa shoved her hands into her pockets as she kicked a stone mindlessly as few more silent moments passed by.

Absolute silence was something Tifa wasn't particularly fond of; it was rather eerie when you are with a stranger. She looked up at her silent companion, and tried to start a casual conversation, "So…" She shrugged, "you traveling alone?"

Leon closed his eyes as he walked, seemingly becoming compressed into his thoughts.

His reply was a silent nod.

"Urgh…" she growled. This man wanted no conversation at all. She wasn't sure who was better at this, Leon or Cloud?

"Wait… are you entering the tournament alone?" she gasped in surprise.

His response… a silent nod.

"Wow, you must be really strong…" she said with a hint of exhilaration._  
"Or really stupid"_ her mind added. "_But he certainly don't act like an idiot so he must be good_"

"I may be good, but I am not perfect, hence I fight to see where I stand" he said deviating slightly from his usual monotone.

"Wow! It's a record! You said more than two words!" she said excitedly clasping her hands.

Leon couldn't help but notice her childlike glee and smile. He quickly regaining his composure, and so did she.

"I wonder how you would fare again Cloud" she said scratching her cheek.

It was that name, again. He knew he had heard this name before, "Cloud." He wasn't sure where he had heard it. Was it from Cid or, maybe, Aerith? He didn't remember. He knew there was something familiar about that name, but he couldn't figure it out.

But as far as Tifa was concerned, her statement failed to generate any response yet again. Not even a casual shrug this time.

She noticed that the guy next to her seemed to be lost in thoughts. She wasn't sure if she should bother him anymore.

As they were approaching the end of the residential area, she got a pleasant surprise.

"You are not from this world, are you?" he asked.

Her red eyes went wide and she was stunned for a moment. "Wait! Was that supposed to be a pick up line?" she pondered for a moment.

"Who am I kidding? This is Leon. He certainly doesn't seem to be THAT kind of a guy" she rationalized with herself.

But, regardless, she was baffled. Was it because of what he said or was it simply by the fact that he had initiated a conversation? She did not know.

"Yes, you are right. I am from a different world. A world that was…" she trailed off.

Leon picked up on the tinge of sadness in her voice. "Heartless?"

This time Tifa nodded solemnly.

It amazing how much Leon can get done by using single word.

"So where are you from?" she asked trying to sound cheerful.

"Hmm… That's complicated" he said. "I am originally from Hollow Bastion. Currently, I am living in Traverse Town."

"Traverse Town…" she repeated his words. "I've never been there. Tell me something about it," she said.

"Hmm… let's see…" he begin, "The heartless in our world use to be--"

"Great!" she turned around and stomped her foot, cutting him off in mid sentence. "The first thing you are going to tell me about your world is about heartless"

"But, didn't YOU asked me to tell you something about my world?" he pointed out.

"Yes, but I didn't ask you to talk about heartless. When I said, 'tell me something about your world' I mean tell me something good about your world. Something which makes you want to go back to your world" she explained trying not to sound agitated.

"You never specified what you wanted to talk about" he said matter-of-factly.

"FINE, talk about heartless then…" she said clearly sounding frustrated.

"Forget it"

"Urghh…"

Their journey was rather short one which included few random conversations and few needless arguments. But, in the end it was all good.

Although Leon would never admit it, he felt rather comfortable with this stranger.

"So this is the hotel you'll be staying at!?" she said holding the glass door for him.

Once again, Leon couldn't figure out if it was a question or a statement. But he nodded to Tifa in response before entering the hotel.

[Snapshot 5]

Once inside, Tifa pointed towards the reception area and informed, "Just show your invitation card to the receptionist and they will allocate you a room. The tournament starts tomorrow so make sure to get proper rest" she advised with a cheerful but challenging smile.

_"How can she be so cheerful after getting off from a whole day's work?... and our argument"_ he wondered about this strange girl.

"I am in room 297 if you need something…" she offered politely. Once again, Leon nodded in response. She was getting quite use to this treatment.

"Oh… and one more thing. The registration desk opens tomorrow morning by the back entrance of the arena. They will give you your warrior ID and your match schedule, so be sure to check yourself in, the first thing in the morning!" she instructed.

"Let's see… I told you about hotel… registration… that… that… and that…" she was lost in her own little world for a moment counting out things that she should tell Leon before they depart.

She counted things with her fingers and once she was sure that she had covered everything, she clasped her hands together in a childish fashion. He suddenly had a flash of déja vu, Yuffie doing almost the same thing it seemed yesterday. He shuddered unwillingly at why. The reasons to take Aerith with him…

"I thank you for accompanying a lonely girl such as myself through the dark and scary alleyways. Your company was certainly the most pleasant one. If you have any other questions, concerns, or comments, please speak up now or forever hold your peace!" She tacked on playfully, breaking his train of thought.

"Thank you," was all he said.

His reply, even though simple, was rather unexpected but honest. "Well, in that case, I'll see you tomorrow then!"

He nodded in approval.

"Bye-bye" she waved, smiled, and then disappeared in the corridor.

Squall made his way towards the reception and soon got a room. He then retreated for the night.

The room was nice and clean. The bed was big and comfortable. But, something was amiss.

Leon kept on tossing and turning, but sleep did not come to him easily. After months, this was the first time he was alone… he had grown so accustomed to Aerith's presence that sleeping without her suddenly felt alien to him. He missed Aerith snuggling close to him or Eiko clinging on to him. He truly missed his family. Even when he was surrounded by people, without his family, he felt empty and lonely. The life which he lived few months ago, alone, self-dependent, and self-reliant, seemed so unreal now. He had changed and he knew it. He was glad that the tournament was a short one; else he feared that he would go crazy without them. In a strange way, he was glad that he missed them so much because his longing for them showed how much he cared and loved them.

With the thought of Aerith awaiting his return, he fell into a peaceful slumber.

* * *

**Far away in a distant world (Traverse Town)**

Aerith tossed and turned, but sleep did not come to her easily. For once, she found herself in a room without Leon or Eiko. Her bed suddenly seemed too large and her room seemed too empty. She missed Squall's calming and assuring presence by her side. She missed his warmth and touch. When he left for the tournament, she knew that she would miss him. But, she had not predicted the severity of pine she was experiencing right now. Leon was gone from her life for just hours, but she had already started feeling unfulfilled. It was as if someone had taken an immense chunk out of her life. Without Leon, her _zing_ was missing. She was still wearing a smile, but from the inside she felt very empty. She had changed and she knew it. She was glad that the tournament was a short one; else she feared that she would go crazy without him. In a strange way, she was glad that she missed him so much because her longing for him showed how much she cared and loved him.

With the thought of Squall returning soon, she fell into a peaceful slumber.

* * *

**Olympus Coliseum**

Leon did not know when he succumbed to sleep previous night, but he was up and running this morning. It was the big day, the tournament day. After getting ready, he immediately made his way to the arena for registration. He stood by the arena entrance contemplating for a moment and absorbing the view, the tension, and the atmosphere of the tournament.

As he approached the registration desk, he could hear an argument. It was a large commotion with a guy with a blond spiked hair. He was wearing a tattered red cloak with dark blue pants and a shirt completing the odd style with brown boots. He wore gloves, the left one having gold trimmings like that of a claw, matching a variety of belts around his waist. The one thing that caught Leon's eye was the peculiar bandaged sword he carried…

Somewhere in the argument he was sure he heard a voice very familiar to him.

As Squall approached the registration desk, the warrior making the commotion turned around and they both shared a quick glance.

Once again he couldn't shake off the familiar of that voice as the argument continued.

Maneuvering through the awful crowd Leon made it to the desk when he finally saw the owner of that familiar voice. When he saw that sight he froze dead on his tracks. It was a sight he would never forget. It was someone who had managed to almost kill him even without lifting a finger. It was his nemesis.

* * *

A/N:

-- Any idea what [Snapshots] are for? Its meaning may be known in next chapter, but its relevance might not be known till much latter.

-- Any idea who is this "nemesis" of Leon? You have seen that character before.

-- Up next, we see Cloud and Leon fighting. With each other or against each other? I can't tell you, yet.

-- Hope you like it :D

Refrences

-- "7th Heaven is Tifa's bar in FF7

-- The conversation betwenn Aerith and Yuffie when Leon leaves is similar to what Elly and Margie has in Xenogears

**_Like always, please take a moment to review. I enjoy reading your reviews as much as you enjoy reading this story!_**

_Thanks!_


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